Two Treatments For IPF Edge Closer To Market, Will Come Down To Subtle Differences

InterMune’s pirfenidone and Boehringer Ingelheim’s nintedanib are neck-and-neck in the race to be the first drug interventions in the U.S. for the fatal lung disease. Phase III data from both drugs were presented at the American Thoracic Society meeting and published in the NEJM May 18.

Patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis could soon have two new treatments on the market, notable because there are currently no drugs approved in the U.S. for the progressive and deadly lung disease. Now that both drugs have crossed the Phase III clinical trial hurdle with positive data and appear closer to FDA approval, the question has shifted to which of the two drugs – InterMune Inc.’s pirfenidone or Boehringer Ingelheim GMBH’s nintedanib – will become the standard of care for first-line treatment.

Some analysts and key opinion leaders think InterMune’s product, which is already approved in Europe and Canada as Esbriet, could...