Adoption of the Antifibrotic Medications Pirfenidone and Nintedanib for Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis

Adoption of Antifibrotic Medications: A Closer Look at the Data

“…However, a closer look at the data by our team suggests a different pattern. Using the same OptumLabs data of commercial and Medicare Advantage members with IPF, we indeed found a similar adoption rate of nintedanib as reported by Dempsey and colleagues ( 1 ). However, breaking down the observed time period into annual calendar year intervals, we observed a different trend.…”

“…We read with great interest the paper by Dempsey and colleagues entitled “Adoption of the Anti-Fibrotic Medications Pirfenidone and Nintedanib for Patients with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis” ( 1 ). This is an area of great importance as we seek to better understand the uptake of novel therapeutics within the United States in a disease in which no prior approved therapies were available.…”

Reply: Adoption of Antifibrotic Medications: A Closer Look at the Data

“…We would like to thank Dr. White and colleagues from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals for their suggestions to strengthen our recent publication in AnnalsATS ( 1 ). We agree that understanding the real-world adoption rates of novel medications such as antifibrotics is an important undertaking.…”

Broad Adoption of Antifibrotics in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis: Still a Long Way to Go

“…In this issue of AnnalsATS , Dempsey and colleagues (pp. 1121–1128 ) have sought to evaluate the adoption, persistence, and out-of-pocket costs of antifibrotic medications (both pirfenidone and nintedanib) in the United States since their approval in 2014 ( 8 ). This is a retrospective observational study, in which the authors used deidentified United States–based administrative claims data from private and public (Medicare Advantage) health insurance plans.…”