Pirfenidone tablets in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a profile of their use

Compliance with ethical standards

Funding: The preparation of this review was not supported by any external funding.

Conflicts of interest: K.A. Lyseng-Williamson is an employee of Adis/Springer, is responsible for the article content and declares no relevant conflicts of interest.

Additional information about this Adis Drug Review can be found here.

Abstract

Pirfenidone (Esbriet®) is available as capsules containing 267 mg of pirfenidone and, more recently, as bioequivalent tablets containing 267, 534 and 801 mg pirfenidone. Both formulations are indicated to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), with pirfenidone being shown to generally reduce the rate of decline in forced vital capacity in patients with mild to moderate IPF, while prolonging progression-free survival and reducing the risk of IPF-related and all-cause mortality. The availability of the tablet formulation reduces the daily pill burden of pirfenidone, as the recommended daily divided maintenance dose of 2403 mg/day may be administered as one 801 mg tablet three times daily instead of three 267 mg capsules three times daily. Pirfenidone is associated with gastrointestinal and skin-related events, with such events generally being manageable. Access to the full article can be found here.

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