For sufferers of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) treatment options are limited, at best the symptoms of the chronic and debilitating lung condition can be managed. Therefore there are high hopes for a handful of therapies in late and mid-stage development.

IPF has proven itself a hard target in the past, and although the research pipeline is not huge with some novel compounds in the clinic the chance of something starting to show efficacy in actually modifying the disease is improving. As the table below shows the first product to reach the US market for this specific indication is likely to be InterMune’s pirfenidone; the FDA is due to make a decision on the immunosuppressant by May 4. However, amongst the novel approaches the endothelin antagonists Tracleer and Letairis will be next to generate pivotal results, and considering this class of drug accounts for a large proportion of the late-stage pipeline, both physicians and patients will be hoping for good news.