Boehringer Ingelheim’s Ofev included in international IPF treatment guidelines

Boehringer Ingelheim has announced that its drug Ofev has been recommended in new international treatment guidelines for use in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients.

The evidence-based document, entitled the 2015 ATS/ERS/JRS/ALAT Clinical Practice Guideline: Treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis – An Update of the 2011 Guideline, suggests that clinicians use Ofev due to its strong safety and efficacy profile.

Devised by experts from the American Thoracic Society (ATS), European Respiratory Society (ERS), Japanese Respiratory Society (JRS) and Latin American Thoracic Association, the guidance places a high value on the drug's impact on important outcomes such as disease progression.

The convenient, twice-daily medicine has been shown in clinical trials to slow disease progression across a broad range of IPF patients, resulting in a 50 percent reduction in the annual rate of decline of lung function, as well as a 68 percent decline in the risk of adjudicated acute exacerbations.

Dr Christopher Corsico, chief medical officer at Boehringer Ingelheim, said: "The inclusion of Ofev in the international guideline marks an important step forward for patient care. Until recently, no approved treatment options were recommended."