Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares ofInterMune (Nasdaq: ITMN) rocketed 140% higher in intraday trading today as lung drug Esbriet received a positive recommendation from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use.

So what: InterMune has been on quite a ride since plummeting 75% in May after the FDA declined to approve the idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) treatment. This committee decision isn't exactly quite approval, but as fellow Fool Brian Orelli points out it's just as good as approval in Europe.

Now what: InterMune's one-year chart looks like a ride that would make even the biggest daredevils a little woozy. With that said, there aren't any drugs approved to treat IPF in the U.S. or Europe, so InterMune should have the European market to itself for a while. The drug won't launch until mid-2012, but the payoff to investors willing to wait that long should be high even if this doesn't change the FDA's mind.

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