Telaprevir combination treatment shows high viral cure rate among specific patients

A combination treatment has been shown to have a high viral cure rate among certain hepatitis C patients

A high viral cure rate was found to occur in patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection who had the IL28B CC genotype after they were treated with telaprevir combination therapy at 12 and 24 weeks..
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced that the study of 239 people showed that 159 participants that underwent 12 weeks of treatment had undetectable HCV by week four of therapy, making them eligible for randomisation.
Some 107 were randomised to have no more treatment, while 52 received an additional 12 weeks of therapy with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin alone, adding up to a total treatment period of 24 weeks.
As many as 87 per cent of candidates in the 12 week treatment plan had undetectable HCV after the end of treatment, the study revealed.
Some 97 per cent of those on the 24 week plan achieved the same results, with the findings presented at the 48th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, which took place in Amsterdam last week.