6 February 2018 - Cost regulators for NHS therapies in England and Wales have now issued final guidelines endorsing the use of Roche’s Esbriet to treat patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, but only in those with moderate to severe forms of the disease.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is sticking with its position that Esbriet (pirfenidone) should only be funded by the NHS if the person has a forced vital capacity between 50% and 80% predicted and Roche provides the drug with the discount agreed in the patient access scheme.

Essentially, this means that patients will have to wait until their disease has worsened - and lung function has been lost - before getting routine NHS access to the drug.

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