Could Ofev Be Used as a Treatment for Acute Exacerbations of IPF?
Doctors are calling for studies to ascertain whether Ofev (nintedanib) should be used to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients who suffer from acute exacerbations.
Find out more about Ofev (nintedanib) here.
This stems from the recent successful treatment of an 84-year-old man, who after being diagnosed with an acute exacerbation of the condition was then treated solely (no antibiotics or corticosteroids) with Ofev, a drug which is used throughout America and Europe to help slow down the progression of IPF symptoms.
Previously, there has been no known drug that effectively treats acute IPF exacerbations, so the success in this patient’s case is being seen as a reason to further investigate the drug’s potential.
The man was hospitalized after his health deteriorated and his forced vital capacity (FVC)–the test used to determine the severity of lung disease–had fallen from 92.8 percent to 77.8 percent in two months. Doctors treated him with 300mg of Ofev each day. He was discharged from hospital after 11 days but continued to take the drug for a further two months, when his FVC had risen to 89.8 percent.
In addition, his HRCT scan showed improvement in his lung fibrotic tissue compared to the scan taken two months earlier. Read more about this story here.
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