InterMune Announces Publication of Pricing and Reimbursement Conditions for Esbriet® (pirfenidone) in Italy

InterMune, Inc. ITMN today announced that the Board of the Italian Drug Agency (AIFA) has approved the pricing and reimbursement conditions for Esbriet^® (pirfenidone), and that the agreement has been published in the Official Gazette, the official journal of the government of Italy.  Esbriet is InterMune's product for the treatment of adult patients with mild to moderate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).  The availability of Esbriet will mark the first time an approved therapy for IPF has been commercially available to the approximately 6,000 to 9,000 mild-to-moderate patients estimated to be living with IPF in Italy.  Esbriet will be reimbursed beginning 15 days from the publication date on the Italian Official Gazette, or June 29. The gross ex-factory price of Esbriet in Italy will be €32,994, or approximately $44,000 per patient, per year.  In addition, pharmaceutical products in Italy are subject to the mandatory national discount of 9.75%.  Reimbursement for Esbriet will be provided under a risk-sharing arrangement, similar to the "Payment for Performance" system already in place for many specialty medicines in Italy.  Prof. Alberto Pesci, Head of the Pulmonary Clinic at San Gerardo Hospital in Monza (Milan) and Coordinator of the Interstitial Lung Diseases working group at the Italian Society of Respiratory Medicine, said, "IPF is a devastating disease with a mortality rate similar to many cancers and until now, no treatment options were available.  This represents a clear step forward in the management of IPF and I wish to express, on behalf of all patients and the Italian scientific community, my sincere appreciation for the upcoming availability of Esbriet in our country."