Showing posts with label complex regimens to treat hepatitis C. Show all posts
Showing posts with label complex regimens to treat hepatitis C. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

New drug combination may reduce need for complex regimens to treat hepatitis C

In continuation of my update on sofosbuvir


Ledipasvir.svg  Sofosbuvir structure.svg
The prognosis for people with hepatitis C has improved dramatically in the last few years, thanks to the introduction of direct-acting anti-viral medications, including Harvoni (the brand name for a combination of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir) and Viekira Pack (a mix of ombitasvir, paritaprevir, ritonavir and dasabuvir). These drugs — which block the hepatitis C virus from multiplying — boast cure rates of better than 90 percent. In addition, they are well-tolerated in most patients, causing only minor side effects.

Despite these major advances, the quest for better hepatitis C medications is not yet over. Drug makers continue to test new drugs to overcome limitations in treating this virus, which can cause liver cirrhosis (or scarring) and failure. About 2.7 million people in the U.S. are infected with the virus, with nearly 30,000 cases occurring in 2013 alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The current medicines are very effective, but physicians sometimes have to tailor the regimen or the length of treatment based on patient characteristics, such as whether the patient has liver cirrhosis or has failed prior therapy," says Nancy S. Reau, MD, chief of the Section of Hepatology at Rush University Medical Center.

Another treatment factor is the type of hepatitis C a patient has. The virus has six different strains, called genotypes.

Now a simplified way of treating all hepatitis C patients may be approaching. Reau participated in a phase III clinical trial of a combination of Solvadi (sofosbuvir) with the investigational drug velpatasvir on patients with genotypes two and three. As described in an article published online on Nov. 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine, the study found that 12 weeks of sofosbuvir-velpatasvir produced higher cure rates in patients with these two genotypes — including those who had cirrhosis or had failed older treatments — than a similar therapy (sofosbuvir-ribavirin)