The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7503 p618
24 May 2008

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Hope for pulmonary fibrosis

Pirfenidone, an anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic compound, stabilises lung function and improves progression-free survival in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, according to a phase III study presented at the American Thoracic Society’s international conference in Toronto this week.

The study included 275 Japanese patients with mild to moderate disease who received high- or low-dose pirfenidone, or placebo.

At one year, loss of lung capacity was lower in the high-dose pirfenidone group than in the placebo group (P=0.0416) and progression-free survival was longer (P=0.0280).