Roche has initiated a new study to evaluate treatment strategies to reduce post-transplant recurrence of hepatitis C infection with the most prescribed hepatitis C treatment combination in the U.S., Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a) and Copegus (ribavirin, USP). In the United States, hepatitis C is the leading cause of liver transplantation.
The new study will compare prophylactic combination therapy with Pegasys and Copegus (to prevent the virus from attacking the transplanted liver) with the same combination therapy administered once hepatitis C infection recurs histologically in the transplanted liver.
"Hepatitis C is one of the greatest challenges we face in liver transplantation today," said Juan Carlos Lopez-Talavera, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Medical Director, Roche. "Approximately 30 percent of all Americans who receive liver transplants each year have chronic hepatitis C. We know that without treatment, hepatitis C almost always begins to attack the transplanted liver in patients with the disease."
Hepatitis C, a blood-borne infectious disease of the liver, is transmitted through body fluids, primarily blood or blood products, and by sharing needles. Hepatitis C chronically infects an estimated 2.7 million Americans and 170 million people worldwide.
"There are many questions to be answered such as how safe and effective is hepatitis C combination therapy for patients who have received a liver transplant, and when is treatment most effective. It is our hope that this study will help determine the best strategy for managing hepatitis C in patients who have received a liver transplant," said Michael Charlton, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of Transplant Research, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.