Hepatitis C News and Research RSS Feed - Hepatitis C News and Research

Hepatitis C is one type of hepatitis - a liver disease - caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). It usually spreads through contact with infected blood. It can also spread through sex with an infected person and from mother to baby during childbirth.

Most people who are infected with hepatitis C don't have any symptoms for years. A blood test can tell if you have it. Usually, hepatitis C does not get better by itself. The infection can last a lifetime and may lead to scarring of the liver or liver cancer. Medicines sometimes help, but side effects can be a problem. Serious cases may need a liver transplant.
Phase IIb Aviator study demonstrates high SVR rates against genotype 1 HCV

Phase IIb Aviator study demonstrates high SVR rates against genotype 1 HCV

Results from "Aviator," AbbVie's phase IIb clinical trial of its investigational direct-acting antivirals for the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection, continue to demonstrate high sustained viral response rates against genotype 1 HCV, across patient types. [More]
Data from MK-5172 Phase II study for treatment of HCV genotype 1 infection to be presented at EASL meeting

Data from MK-5172 Phase II study for treatment of HCV genotype 1 infection to be presented at EASL meeting

Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced the presentation of the latest interim data from a Phase II, multi-center, randomized, dose-ranging clinical trial evaluating the safety and antiviral activity of MK-5172, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection. [More]
Janssen announces safety results from two Phase 3 studies of simeprevir in hepatitis C patients

Janssen announces safety results from two Phase 3 studies of simeprevir in hepatitis C patients

Janssen R&D Ireland today announced primary efficacy and safety results from two global Phase 3 studies demonstrating that use of the investigational protease inhibitor simeprevir (TMC435) led to sustained virologic response 12 weeks after the end of treatment (SVR12) in 80 and 81 percent, respectively, of treatment-naive genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C adult patients with compensated liver disease, including all stages of liver fibrosis, when administered once daily with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. [More]
New data on Enanta's lead HCV protease inhibitor to be presented at International Liver Congress

New data on Enanta's lead HCV protease inhibitor to be presented at International Liver Congress

Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a research and development-focused biotechnology company dedicated to creating small molecule drugs in the infectious disease field, announced today that new Phase 2b data related to ABT-450, Enanta's lead HCV protease inhibitor identified in its ongoing collaboration with AbbVie, as well as new preclinical data on Enanta's proprietary cyclophilin inhibitor, EDP-546, will be presented at the International Liver Congress, which is the 48th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver taking place in Amsterdam April 24-28, 2013. [More]

Clinical data on simeprevir for treatment of hepatitis C patients to be presented at EASL meeting

Medivir AB today announces that data will be presented on the investigational protease inhibitor simeprevir (TMC435) for the treatment of genotype 1 hepatitis C patients. [More]

Gilead Sciences to present results from four Phase 3 clinical trials at International Liver Congress 2013

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced that detailed results from four Phase 3 clinical trials (NEUTRINO, FISSION, POSITRON and FUSION) evaluating sofosbuvir, the company's investigational once-daily nucleotide NS5B inhibitor for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection, will be presented this week in oral sessions at the 48th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [More]

Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb to evaluate daclatasvir and MK-5172 for treatment of HCV infection

Merck today announced it has entered into a non-exclusive agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb to conduct a Phase II clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a once-daily oral combination regimen consisting of Bristol-Myers Squibb's investigational NS5A replication complex inhibitor daclatasvir and Merck's investigational NS3/4A protease inhibitor MK-5172 for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection, genotype 1. [More]

Phase 2 study of VX-661 and ivacaftor shows significant improvements in lung function among CF patients

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced data from a Phase 2 study of VX-661 and ivacaftor that showed statistically significant improvements in lung function among adults with cystic fibrosis (CF) who have two copies (homozygous) of the most common mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene, known as F508del. [More]
SynCon universal H1N1 influenza vaccine generates protective antibody levels in phase 1 study

SynCon universal H1N1 influenza vaccine generates protective antibody levels in phase 1 study

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that its SynCon universal H1N1 influenza vaccine generated protective antibody levels comparable to a current FDA-approved seasonal influenza vaccine against a currently circulating influenza strain. [More]
Ribavirin, interferon-alpha 2b inhibit virus replication in cell culture, NIH study finds

Ribavirin, interferon-alpha 2b inhibit virus replication in cell culture, NIH study finds

National Institutes of Health scientists studying an emerging coronavirus have found that a combination of two licensed antiviral drugs, ribavirin and interferon-alpha 2b, can stop the virus from replicating in laboratory-grown cells. [More]
Tacere Therapeutics submits TT-034 clinical trial application to Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee

Tacere Therapeutics submits TT-034 clinical trial application to Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee

RNAi-based therapeutics company Benitec Biopharma Limited today announced that the company's wholly owned US subsidiary, Tacere Therapeutics Inc., has submitted an application to the US National Institutes of Health's Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee. [More]
Benitec to conduct phase I/II clinical trial of TT-034 in patients with HCV in UCSD site

Benitec to conduct phase I/II clinical trial of TT-034 in patients with HCV in UCSD site

RNAi-based therapeutics company Benitec Biopharma Limited today announced the selection of the University of California, San Diego, Health Sciences as the second site for its upcoming phase I/II first-in-man trial for TT-034 in Hepatitis C infections. [More]
Study reveals inner workings of master regulator that controls diverse functions

Study reveals inner workings of master regulator that controls diverse functions

New discoveries by a team of scientists at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans for the first time reveal the inner workings of a master regulator that controls functions as diverse as the ability of nerve cells to "rewire" themselves in response to external stimuli and the mechanism by which certain viruses hijack normal cellular processes to facilitate their replication that can ultimately lead to cancer. The research will be published in the April 12, 2013 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. [More]
New approaches to treat persistent viral infections like HIV and hepatitis C

New approaches to treat persistent viral infections like HIV and hepatitis C

UCLA scientists have shown that temporarily blocking a protein critical to immune response actually helps the body clear itself of chronic infection. Published in the April 12 edition of Science, the finding suggests new approaches to treating persistent viral infections like HIV and hepatitis C. [More]

New data on Merck’s VICTRELIS for chronic HCV to be presented at EASL annual meeting

Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, announced today that two analyses of VICTRELIS (boceprevir) and data from Phase II studies of two of Merck's investigational medicines for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1, MK-5172 and vaniprevir (MK-7009), will be presented at the 2013 International Liver Congress (EASL) Annual Meeting. [More]

Nev. jury orders HMO to pay $500M in punitive damages after hepatitis C outbreak

A Nevada jury has awarded three plaintiffs $500 million in punitive damages after finding negligence. [More]

Johns Hopkins scientists create Web-based tool to help patients decide on kidney transplantation

Johns Hopkins scientists have created a free, Web-based tool to help patients decide whether it's best to accept an immediately available, but less-than-ideal deceased donor kidney for transplant, or wait for a healthier one in the future. [More]
First Edition: April 10, 2013

First Edition: April 10, 2013

Today's headlines include more details and analysis regarding President Barack Obama's budget plan and how it handles Medicare and other entitlement programs. [More]

Boehringer Ingelheim's STARTVerso 1 Phase 3 hepatitis C data to be presented at EASL Congress

Boehringer Ingelheim today announced that data from its pivotal STARTVerso 1 Phase 3 hepatitis C clinical trial have been accepted for oral presentation as a late-breaker at the International Liver Congress 2013: 48th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, taking place from April 24-28 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. [More]
Newly discovered mouse viruses can pave the way for future progress in hepatitis research

Newly discovered mouse viruses can pave the way for future progress in hepatitis research

Newly discovered mouse viruses could pave the way for future progress in hepatitis research, enabling scientists to study human disease and vaccines in the ultimate lab animal. [More]