The battle to control the hepatitis C (HCV) drug market got more competitive over the weekend at The International Liver Congress meeting in Barcelona, Spain.
Gilead Sciences, the company that has played a big role in developing powerful therapies, announced that studies involving a pan-genotypic protease inhibitor demonstrated promise in treating a rare patient population.
Investigators administered this drug candidate to 128 patients, over 12 weeks, who had failed to respond to other direct-acting antivirals. Results revealed that this cocktail proved to be 99 percent effective in treating all six HCV genotypes, reported FierceBiotech.
AbbVie presented similar data at the event for its one pill, once-daily combination of ABT-493 and ABT-530 HCV drug.
The treatment regimen attacks the virus’s ability to replicate in different ways, but Reuters noted these mid-stage study results showed effective cure rates in all six genotypes as well.
An estimated 97 to 98 percent of genotype 1 and genotype 2 non-cirrhosis patients who did not respond to older treatments had no trace of the virus in their system 12 weeks after the conclusion of the eight-week trial.
Non-cirrhosis genotype 3 patients receiving first time treatment experienced a 97 percent cure rate whereas participants afflicted with cirrhosis had a 100 percent cure rate. A full cure rate was seen in non-cirrhotic patients with genotypes 4-6.
Ultimately, these results bode well for individuals suffering from this disease.
Although pricing is still an issue, strong safety profiles and high-cure rates is a significant advancement for a pathogen that previously required an arduous treatment schedule.
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Filed Under: Drug Discovery
