InterMune Buys Out License Agreement for Pirfenidone

InterMune has entered agreements with Marnac and co-licensor KDL GmbH eliminating all of InterMune’s future royalty and milestone payment obligations for pirfenidone, a potential treatment for scarring of the lungs.

The company will purchase the pirfenidone patent rights it had licensed from Marnac and KDL, as well as certain other pirfenidone-related assets. InterMune also will acquire rights to certain additional intellectual property for pirfenidone, including patents relating to the TNF-alpha activities of the compound.

Dan Welch, InterMune’s president and CEO, said if the Phase III CAPACITY program studying pirfenidone in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is successful and the company registers the compound for commercialization, InterMune will avoid the $14.5 million in milestone payments and the 9 percent royalty on net sales called for in the license agreement.