AbbVie's Hepatitis C Drug Shows High SVR Rates in Clinical Trials

AbbVie announced 98 percent (n=102/104) of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients with severe chronic kidney disease (CKD) achieved sustained virologic response following 12 weeks of treatment (SVR12) with its investigational, pan-genotypic regimen of glecaprevir (ABT-493)/pibrentasvir (ABT-530) (G/P) in the primary intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis. In a modified intent-to-treat (mITT) analysis, SVR12 was achieved in 100 percent (n=102/102) of severe CKD patients; mITT excludes patients who did not achieve SVR for reasons other than virologic failure. These new data from the Phase 3 EXPEDITION-4 study, evaluating patients with chronic HCV infection across all major genotypes (GT1-6) and severe CKD, will be presented as a late-breaker today at The Liver Meeting®, the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in Boston.

The EXPEDITION-4 results are the latest to be released from registrational studies in AbbVie’s G/P clinical development program, designed to investigate a faster path to virologic cure* for all major HCV genotypes (GT1-6) and with the goal of addressing areas of continued unmet need.

“HCV patients with severe chronic kidney disease present a complex challenge for physicians to treat, particularly as kidney disease progresses, and if the patient has genotype 2 or 3 or has compensated cirrhosis,” said Ed Gane, M.D., professor of medicine at the University of Auckland in Auckland, New Zealand. “The results seen in EXPEDITION-4 are a positive development in AbbVie’s investigation of the G/P regimen for patients with chronic kidney disease, who currently have limited HCV treatment options.”

HCV is common among people with severe CKD, reaching prevalence of up to 80 percent in some regions of the world. In the U.S., it is estimated that over 500,000 people have both chronic HCV and CKD.3 Some chronic HCV infected patients with severe CKD, particularly those with GT2 and GT3 HCV infection, currently don’t have access to direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). The development of new, safe and effective regimens to treat HCV in these patients remains a critical unmet medical need.1

“With our investigational, pan-genotypic regimen, our goal is to provide a safe and effective cure to patients across genotypes, including patients with severe chronic kidney disease, regardless of previous treatment status or presence of compensated cirrhosis,” said Michael Severino, M.D., executive vice president, research and development and chief scientific officer, AbbVie. “Our clinical development program reflects our ongoing commitment to addressing treatment areas of continued unmet need.”

The EXPEDITION-4 study enrolled 104 patients with severe chronic kidney disease, including 85 patients (82 percent) who were receiving dialysis at enrollment and 20 patients (19 percent) who had compensated cirrhosis. The study also included those who were not cured with previous sofosbuvir (SOF) with ribavirin (RBV) or interferon (IFN) with RBV; with or without SOF (44 patients, 42 percent).

The majority of treatment related adverse events (AEs) were mild or moderate. The most commonly reported AEs included pruritus, fatigue and nausea. Of the 24 percent of patients who experienced serious AEs, none were considered related to G/P. Four AEs (4 percent) led to the discontinuation of G/P and one patient died after achieving SVR4 due to a serious AE (intracerebral hemorrhage) considered not-related to G/P.