Trial indicates that BIBF1120 may preserve lung function in patients with idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF)
Ingelheim, Germany, 16 November 2010 – New data presented at the 16 th International Colloquium on Lung and Airway Fibrosis (ICLAF) show that Boehringer Ingelheim’s investigational compound BIBF1120, a triple kinase inhibitor, may provide significant clinical benefit in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). 1
IPF is a progressive and severely debilitating lung disease
2, for which there are no approved treatments in the USA
or Europe and there is an unmet clinical need for effective
licensed agents.
Results from the Phase II TOMORROW study, presented by Professor
Luca Richeldi from the Center for Rare Lung Diseases at the
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Policlinico Hospital,
Modena, Italy, show that 12 months’ treatment with BIBF1120
resulted in a clinically important reduction in the rate of decline
in lung function in patients with IPF.
The trial investigated the safety and efficacy of four doses of
BIBF 1120 and results demonstrated that the annual rates of FVC
decline (primary endpoint), were:
0.19 L (in the placebo arm); 0.17 L (BIBF 1120 50 mg once
daily); 0.21 L (BIBF 1120 50 mg twice daily); 0.16 L
(BIBF 1120 100 mg twice daily); and 0.06 L (BIBF 1120 150 mg twice
daily) with a p-value of 0.0136; closed-testing multiplicity
corrected: p=0.0639.
The 150 mg twice daily dose of BIBF1120 provided a 68% reduction in
the rate of decline compared with placebo.
Secondary endpoints supported the efficacy of BIBF1120. The
percentage of the predicted value of FVC was better preserved in
the 100 mg and 150 mg twice daily BIBF1120 groups compared with
placebo. Only 2 (2.3%) patients in the 150 mg twice daily BIBF1120
group suffered from an acute exacerbation of the disease during the
12-month study period, compared with 12 (13.8%) patients in the
placebo group (p <0.05). In addition, patients taking 150 mg
twice daily BIBF1120 reported less deterioration in quality of life
according to the St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ)
compared with patients taking placebo (p <0.01).
“These results are very encouraging. Using an innovative approach to treating idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an effect has been shown on the primary and several other clinically relevant study endpoints. Taken together, these data provide a solid and promising platform for the development of a Phase III program.” said Professor Luca Richeldi from the Center for Rare Lung Diseases at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Policlinico Hospital, Modena, Italy.
The total number of adverse events reported was
similar in the BIBF1120 and placebo groups. The most frequently
reported adverse events in patients taking BIBF1120 were diarrhoea,
nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and reversible increases of liver
transaminases. Discontinuations due to adverse events were more
frequent in the BIBF1120 150 mg twice daily group (31.8%), but less
frequent in the BIBF1120 100 mg twice daily group (15.1%), than in
the placebo group (24.7%).