Results from a phase 2 trial, published recently in The New England Journal of Medicine, suggest that treatment with 150 mg of nintedanib slowed lung-function decline and decreased acute exacerbations in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a fatal lung disease typically affecting individuals older than 50 years and characterized by worsening dyspnea and progressive loss of lung function.

A total of 1,066 subjects were involved within two replicate, 52-week, phase 3 trials, IMPULSIS-1 and IMPULSIS-2. Randomly assigned, to either nintedanib or placebo, the adjusted annual rate of change in FVC was found to be -114.7 ml with nintedanib whereas a -239.9 ml with the placebo.