(Reuters) – A combination of experimental treatments
oral hepatitis C which are being developed by
Abbott Laboratories resulted in cure rates exceeding 90
percent in patients previously untreated, according to data
from a small study in intermediate stage.
The information, which will be presented in a liver meeting
European later this month, placed Abbott in the race by
produce a therapeutic regime free of interferon for the
serious liver disease.
“This shows unprecedented cure rates for the
“
is the most common infection with hepatitis C. “And we were able to achieve
these rates only with a 12-week therapy”, said
Scott Brun, Vice-President of the Development Division for
infectious diseases of Abbott.
Summaries of the studies, which will be presented in a
meeting of the European Association for the study of the liver
(EASL_por_su_sigla_en_inglés) in Barcelona, were
available Wednesday.
“(The EASL meeting) is going to be very clear that we are
“
a landmark truly transformational for patients with HCV
(virus_de_la_hepatitis_C) “, Brun said.
“
The trial of phase II on patients previously untreated
he combined the improved ABT-450 Abbott protease inhibitor
with the antiviral drug ritonavir with polymerase inhibitor
ABT-333 and Ribavirin, a drug which is part of the regimes
currently available against hepatitis C.
Patients receiving therapy combined for 12
weeks and 24 weeks were controlled in search of
signs of the virus in the blood to determine if he had
sustained virological response (RVS). Patients who managed to
a RVS at 24 weeks of completing treatment were
considered cured.
Eighteen of the 19 patients who received a dose of 250
milligrams (mg) of ABT-450 as part of their combination managed
RVS, i.e. 95 per cent; while 13 of 14 of those who
received a dose of 150 mg of ABT-450 were considered
cured, i.e. a 93 percent.
In a third part of the study, which included patients in
those who failed prior standard therapy with
interferon and Ribavirin, eight of 17 patients managed to RVS, the
which is equivalent to a 47 per cent cure rate.
Abbott is also evaluating a drug of a class
promising known as several NS5A inhibitors
totally oral combinations, which believes it could improve the
cure rates of patients who did not respond to
pretreatment.
No serious side effects were reported in the study.
The most common were fatigue, nausea and headache.
Interferon, which is an injectable, medication causes
symptoms very annoying, similar to the flu, which can lead to
patients to discontinue treatment.
If it remains untreated, hepatitis C can cause
cirrhosis, liver cancer and even death. Also is the
most common reason for liver transplants.
Analysts believe that a therapy free of interferon with
a high cure rate and shorter treatment time is
can become leader of multimillion dollar sales. That has
generated fierce competition between laboratories.
Further trials will be needed to confirm the efficacy and
safety of medications from Abbott, and the company said that
is planning to start phase III studies at the beginning of 2013.
However, data from Abbott will be presented in the
meeting of EASL this month clearly show that the signing
seeks to be an important piece in this field.
