InterMune to 'vigorously' fight German report on lung drug

InterMune Inc.’s drug to treat a deadly lung condition provides little benefit to patients, according to a German health organization.
The findings, published Thursday, could be a blow for Brisbane-based InterMune (NASDAQ: ITMN), which in February won approval in Europe for Esbriet as a treatment for the lung-scarring disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The company decided to launch Esbriet in Germany in the first half of 2012 and spread to other parts of the continent.
Saying it has “a number of important concerns” with the methodology used by the private Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care, InterMune said it will “vigorously challenge” the assessment.