NICE continues to deny patients with early IPF access to pirfenidone

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has stuck by its recommendation, made last year, that pirfenidone should be reserved for people with moderate idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) only and not prescribed on the NHS for people in the early stages of this fatal lung condition.

The latest recommendation follows a successful appeal made by Swiss pharma giant Roche (ROG: SIX) on the final appraisal determination (FAD) in September 2016, which restricted use of Esbriet (pirfenidone).

Dr Toby Maher, consultant physician at the Royal Brompton Hospital, said: “This is an illogical decision, to deny effective treatment in a condition that is irreversibly progressive and ultimately fatal. I would like to treat patients with a drug that has shown clinical efficacy, rather than wait for them to decline until they are considered by NICE sick enough to warrant treatment. England continues to be one of the few countries in Europe where IPF patients don’t have access to pirfenidone or an alternative treatment for early IPF.”