Pricing and reimbursement conditions for InterMune's Esbriet in Italy

US biotech firm InterMune (Nasdaq: ITMN) says 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.

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 around 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 euros, 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.