MONDAY, May 5, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- A new regimen shows promise for hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection, and sofosbuvir and ribavirin are active in HCV genotypes 2 and 3 infection, according to two studies published online May 4 in the New England Journal of Medicine. This research was published to coincide with the annual Digestive Disease Week, held from May 3 to 6 in Chicago.
Peter Ferenci, M.D., from the Medical University of Vienna, and colleagues conducted two phase 3 trials to examine the efficacy and safety of an interferon-free regimen of ABT-450 with ritonavir, ombitasvir, and dasabuvir with or without ribavirin. The researchers found that the regimen correlated with high rates of sustained virologic response among those with HCV genotype 1b infection (99.5 and 99.0 percent with and without ribavirin, respectively) and among those with 1a infection (97.0 and 90.2 percent, respectively).
Stefan Zeuzem, M.D., from the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Medical Center in Frankfurt, Germany, and colleagues randomized 91 patients with HCV genotype 2 infection and 328 with HCV genotype 3 infection to receive sofosbuvir-ribavirin or placebo for 12 weeks. The study was unblinded and therapy was extended to 24 weeks among those with genotype 3 infection. The researchers found that 93 percent of patients with HCV 2 infection and 85 percent of those with HCV genotype 3 met the criterion for sustained virologic response.
"Therapy with sofosbuvir-ribavirin for 12 weeks in patients with HCV genotype 2 and for 24 weeks in patients with HCV genotype 3 infection resulted in high rates of sustained virologic response," Zeuzem and colleagues write.
The Ferenci study was funded by AbbVie, the manufacturer of ABT-450/ritonavir, ombitasvir, and dasabuvir; the Zeuzem study was funded by Gilead Sciences, the manufacturer of sofosbuvir.
Abstract - Ferenci
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Abstract - Zeuzem
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