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Pills may soon replace injections
with interferon as the preferred treatment for hepatitis C, according to
studies conducted in Texas and New Zealand. The University of Texas Health
Science Center study reported a 95 percent success rate in suppressing blood
levels of genotype 1 hepatitis C, the most common form of the virus. The pill
regimen included a combination of the drugs ABT-450/r and ABT-333. The New
Zealand study tested the new drug sofosbuvir in combination with existing
therapies on groups of people infected with hepatitis C genotypes 1, 2, or 3.
Researchers stated a combination of sofosbuvir and ribavirin achieved 100
percent success in suppressing genotypes 2 and 3, and 84 percent success with
genotype 1.
The current treatment for hepatitis
C requires patients to take ribavirin and three weekly injections of interferon
for 48 weeks. Interferon suppresses the entire immune system and can cause
flu-like side effects for the entire course of treatment. Both of the new drugs
target only the hepatitis c virus and require 12 weeks of treatment. Side
effects of the new treatments were not severe enough to cause participants to
stop treatment.
Over three million people in the
United States have hepatitis C, which is spread through contact with the blood
of a hepatitis C-infected person. Chronic hepatitis C can lead to cirrhosis of
the liver and liver failure.
The full report on ABT-450/r and
ABT-333, “Exploratory Study of Oral Combination Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis
C,” was published in the New England Journal of Medicine (2013; 368:45-63). The
full report on sofosbuvir, “Nucleotide Polymerase Inhibitor Sofosbuvir plus
Ribavirin for Hepatitis C,” was published in the New England Journal of
Medicine (2013; 368:34-44).
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
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