BRISBANE,
Calif. (AP) — InterMune Inc. said
today that the European Commission approved its lung disease drug Esbriet.
The drug is approved to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis,
a terminal disease that causes scarring in the lungs. The approval allows the
company to sell the drug in all 27 European Union member states. It plans to
launch the drug in Germany
in September, followed by France,
Spain and Italy in the
first half of 2012. It plans to launch the drug in the U.K. later in
2012, along with other markets.
The European approval was expected, as an advisory panel in
December recommended its approval. The drug is still being reviewed by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration, which had asked the company to run an additional
study.
Shares of InterMune rose $1.03, or 2.8 percent, to $38.20 in
premarket trading after closing at $37.17 Wednesday.
