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Ledipasvir combination effective in treating HCV genotype 1
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ATLANTA — A combination of sofosbuvir, ledipasvir and ribavirin led to 100% viral suppression among patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 1, according to researchers presenting here at the 2013 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.
“Last year, [it was] reported that the combination of sofosbuvir and ribavirin did not help this population of difficult-to-treat patients, as almost all patients relapsed after they completed treatment,” Edward Gane, MD, of the Auckland Clinical Studies in New Zealand, said during his presentation. “Our trial was amended to assess the addition of ledipasvir to this regimen.”
Gane and colleagues conducted the ELECTRON study, in which 25 treatment-naive patients and nine null responders were — after treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin — enrolled. The patients received sofosbuvir (Gilead), ledipasvir (Gilead) and ribavirin for 12 weeks.
At 4 weeks, all patients reached sustained virologic response (SVR), and at 12 weeks, 100% of patients still had SVR and undetectable HCV viral loads. The treatment was well tolerated, and there were no treatment-related discontinuations or serious adverse events.
“This treatment was associated with consistent and potent antiviral suppression, with 100% SVR12 rate,” Gane said. “Further studies will determine the optimal duration of this combination therapy and whether ribavirin is required.”
For more information:
Gane E. #41LB. Presented at: 2013 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections; March 3-6, 2013; Atlanta.
Disclosure: Gane reports financial ties with Gilead, Janssen-Cilag, Novartis, Pharmasset, Roche and Vertex.