ITMN-CIBC note
Highlights from Conference Call with Dr. Raghu on Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
On 4/5, CIBC hosted a conference call with Dr. Ganesh Raghu, chief of the Chest Clinic at the University of Washington Medical Center and expert in IPF.
Dr. Raghu was encouraged by the ph.III pirfenidone results in IPF presented by Shionogi. He believes the VC endpoint used in Shionogi's study should correlate well with the FVC endpoint in ITMN's CAPACITY study, and that FVC/VC are the most valid surrogate measures for response to treatment.
Dr. Raghu believes the full data set for Shionogi's ph.III study, particularly side effects, dropout rates, and secondary endpoints such as exacerbations, will provide a clearer picture as to pirfenidone's potential. He does not see any continuing role for Actimmune in IPF, given the recent negative data.
Overall, our conversation with Dr. Raghu supported our view that pirfenidone is a promising therapy for IPF, a significant unmet need. We continue to believe ITMN shares are attractive at current levels, and expect antiviral efficacy data for ITMN-191 in HCV will drive shares higher in 2H07.
