Hepatitis C News

Nonspecialists such as primary care physicians and nurse practitioners can administer direct-acting antiviral therapy for hepatitis C virus as safely and effectively as specialists, which expands treatment access for challenging populations with HCV, according to recent findings.

Liver cirrhosis is a risk factor for direct-acting antiviral therapy failure in patients coinfected with hepatitis C virus and HIV, according to researchers.

Sustained virologic response correlated with reduced hepatic venous pressure gradient in patients with HCV-associated cirrhosis, according to a recently published study. However, clinically significant portal hypertension continued to persist in most patients.

Patients who achieved sustained virologic response after direct-acting antiviral treatment also had significantly lower all-cause mortality and lower incident rates of hepatocellular carcinoma compared with patients who did not achieve SVR.

Management of hepatitis C virus infection has drastically changed over the past 20 years — and even more so in the past 10 years — as a direct result of the evolution of pharmacologic therapy. HCV was discovered in 1989, and nearly 10 years later, in 1997, interferon was FDA approved as the first HCV treatment option. Unfortunately, interferon use was limited by inadequate rates of SVR and side effects. Standard of care shifted after the introduction of pegylated interferon and ribavirin, which overcame some of the pitfalls of interferon.

The FDA approved AbbVie’s Mavyret to treat adults with hepatitis C genotypes 1 through 6 without cirrhosis or with mild cirrhosis, including those who failed previous direct-acting antiviral treatment, according to an agency press release. The new approval indicates only 8 weeks of treatment needed in treatment-naive patients without cirrhosis.

In a recent commentary, EASL leadership focused on “micro-elimination” techniques in the fight against hepatitis C virus, explaining that while treatment of HCV with direct-acting antiviral agents is central to the elimination campaign, their high cost confirms the importance of prevention and education about transmission.

Gilead Sciences announced the FDA approval of Epclusa for the treatment of hepatitis C genotypes 1 through 6 in patients coinfected with HIV, according to a press release.

WHO has prequalified the first generic version of sofosbuvir for the treatment of hepatitis C, a development that could improve access to quality-assured generic medicines, according to a press release.

Since its introduction in April 2015, the nation of Georgia’s HCV Elimination Program has shown the potential to rapidly expand HCV care and treatment services, but achieving its 2020 goal of HCV elimination will require improved HCV testing and access to treatment services, according to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.