AbbVie Announces New Phase 3b Results in Genotype 1b Chronic Hepatitis C Patients with Compensated Liver Cirrhosis

26-Jun-2015 - USA
AbbVie announced TURQUOISE-III study results demonstrating 100 percent (n=60/60) sustained virologic response at 12 weeks post-treatment (SVR12) in genotype 1b (GT1b) chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected adult patients with compensated liver cirrhosis. Patients received 12 weeks of VIEKIRAX® (ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir tablets) + EXVIERA® (dasabuvir tablets) without ribavirin (RBV). These new results from AbbVie's Phase 3b study will be presented at the 15th Annual International Symposium on Viral Hepatitis and Liver Diseases in Berlin, Germany.
Approximately 160 million people worldwide are infected with HCV.2 Genotype 1 is the most common type of HCV genotype, accounting for 60 percent of cases worldwide and in Europe, the most prevalent genotype is 1b (47 percent). Over time, chronic HCV may lead to liver complications, including compensated cirrhosis, in about 10-20 percent of people infected.
"Genotype 1b represents a large portion of HCV patients globally, as it is the most prevalent sub-genotype, and there is a need to continue to explore additional treatment regimens," said Jordan J. Feld, M.D., MPH, research director and clinician scientist, Toronto Center for Liver Disease, Toronto, Canada. "The results of TURQUOISE-III are promising, demonstrating that genotype 1b HCV patients with compensated liver cirrhosis have the potential to achieve high response rates with an interferon and ribavirin-free treatment in 12 weeks."
Patients in TURQUOISE-III were either treatment-naïve or treatment-experienced (failed previous therapy with pegylated interferon and RBV). No patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events.1 The most commonly reported adverse events (>10 percent) were fatigue (22 percent), diarrhea (20 percent) and headache (18 percent).
"In the TURQUOISE-III study, GT1b patients with compensated liver cirrhosis achieved a 100 percent cure rate with VIEKIRAX + EXVIERA without ribavirin," said Scott Brun, M.D., vice president, pharmaceutical development, AbbVie. "TURQUOISE-III is part of our Phase 3b program, which aims to further enhance our understanding of AbbVie's regimen in HCV populations seen in clinical practice, and supports our commitment to continued investigation in this field."

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