With its hepatitis C virus protease inhibitor in Phase Ib trials, InterMune Inc.'s buyout of rights to pirfenidone for $13.5 million up front and as much as $53.5 million later puts the firm in position for another run against idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) - the lung-scarring condition against which Actimmune failed earlier this year. (BioWorld Today)