Big Advance In Hep C Treatment

Via Reuters:

A combination of two anti-viral drugs developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co cured 90 percent of previously untreated hepatitis C patients and 82 percent of those who failed to respond to prior therapy, according to results from a late stage study presented on Thursday. The Phase III trial of more than 700 patients called Hallmark-Dual tested a combination of Bristol's daclatasvir and asunaprevir over 24 weeks of therapy in patients with genotype 1b of the virus that causes progressive liver disease.

The cure rate was also 82 percent among patients unable to tolerate treatment with the older standard drugs interferon and ribavirin and 84 percent in patients who had cirrhosis, which accounted for nearly a third of those in the trial. Patients for whom the virus was undetectable in the blood 12 weeks after completing 24 weeks of treatment were deemed to have achieved sustained virologic response (SVR), which is considered cured.

(Tipped by JMG reader Paul)

FDA Approves New Hep C Drug

Via press release from the CDC:

Today, the FDA approved an important new treatment for chronic hepatitis C. The drug, sofosbuvir, is a major advance in the treatment of a disease that affects approximately 3 million Americans and causes more than 15,000 deaths in the U.S. annually. Today marks a landmark advance in the treatment of hepatitis C, opening up new opportunities to stop the spread of this virus and the ravages of this disease. However, new therapies only work if people receive treatment – the potential of these and other treatment advances hinges entirely on our ability to get more people screened and into care. Right now, most Americans with hepatitis C don’t access treatment because they have no idea they’re infected.