InterMune Investors Eager for Lung-Drug Data

InterMune(ITMN Quote) investors are anxiously awaiting findings from two clinical trials that may yield the first blockbuster drug in the company's history.

Within the next week or two, the Brisbane, Calif.-based drug maker is expected to release results from two phase III studies that are testing the drug pirfenidone in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive and fatal lung disease.

The two studies represent high stakes for InterMune and its shareholders. If successful, pirfenidone is likely to become the first drug for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. With well over 200,000 IPF patients in the U.S. and Europe, InterMune could easily transform pirfenidone into a highly profitable drug with more than $1 billion in peak sales.

A failure of the pirfenidone studies would obviously dash those blockbuster dreams and would be the second time that InterMune tried and failed to make a lasting dent in IPF. Without pirfenidone, InterMune loses its best and nearest-term shot at becoming a profitable drug company, forcing shareholders to wait years more to see if the company's nascent hepatitis C drug program pans out.

InterMune shares were up 2.3% to $11.25 in recent trading. The stock is up about almost 30% since the middle of January.

IPF is a disease marked by scarring of the lungs caused by the gradual buildup of fibrous tissue. As the fibrotic scar tissue accumulates, air sacs in the lungs lose their ability to transfer oxygen into the bloodstream. There are no effective treatments for IPF, and unless patients can undergo a successful lung transplant, they eventual die of the disease.