Boehringer Ingelheim’s Ofev nabs FDA nod for expanded use in rare lung disease

Boehringer Ingelheim cast a wide net with its clinical program for pulmonary fibrosis med Ofev, hoping to carve out a sales niche in a huge range of ultra-rare lung diseases. Already sporting an FDA nod in one subclass, Ofev can now target an even larger patient pool with its newest approval.

The FDA on Monday approved Ofev to treat patients with range of chronic fibrosing interstitial lung diseases (ILD) with a progressive phenotype, Boehringer said in a release. 

Ofev’s newest approval covers between 18% and 32% of total patients with an ILD, a category that includes around 200 diseases that can lead to irreversible scarring of lung tissue, Boehringer said.

Ofev already sports FDA approvals to treat pulmonary fibrosis and systemic sclerosis-associated ILD (SSc-ILD), another subclass of ILD that is believed to affect around 50,000 Americans each year. 

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