(Reuters) - InterMune Inc said its experimental lung drug reduced the progression of a disease that leads to loss of lung function in a late-stage trial.
The trial compared the drug, pirfenidone, with a placebo, and showed that after 52 weeks of treatment, 16.5 percent of patients in the pirfenidone group experienced disease progression, compared with 31.8 percent in the placebo group.
The disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), is an irreversible condition that leads to progressive loss of lung function due to scarring, which hinders the lungs' ability to absorb oxygen.
InterMune said it expected to submit a marketing application for the drug to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by early third quarter of this year.
Trading in the company's shares was halted ahead of the announcement. They closed at $13.96 on the Nasdaq on Monday.
(Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)