Boceprevir combinational therapy improves SVR rate in patients with HCV genotype 1

The final results of the RESPOND-2 trial demonstrated that combination therapy with Boceprevir yields higher sustained virologic response (SVR) rates for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 who did not respond to or relapsed after treatment with peginterferon alpha 2b and Ribavirin.

"We are excited to have new therapies for treatment of HCV patients who failed to respond to treatment," said Bruce Bacon, MD. "Triple therapy appears to be a significant advance in the fight against hepatitis C."

Three arms were randomly selected from 403 HCV genotype 1 patients who previously failed treatment–partial  / non-responders or relapsers:

• Control arm received peginterferon alpha 2b and Ribavirin for 48 weeks
• Second arm received 4 weeks of lead-in therapy of peginterferon alpha 2b and Ribavirin followed by response-guided therapy of peginterferon alpha 2b and Ribavirin combined with 800 mg of Boceprevir three times a day
• Third arm received 4 weeks of lead-in therapy of peginterferon alpha 2b and Ribavirin followed by 44 weeks of peginterferon alpha 2b and Ribavirin combined with 800 mg of Boceprevir

At 24 weeks after conclusion of treatment, the control arm achieved a SVR of 21 percent. Adding Boceprevir to the treatment increased SVR to 59 percent for the second arm and 67 percent for the third arm. It was noted that previous relapsers fared better than nonresponders in all arms. The therapy was well-tolerated, and the most common reason for discontinuing treatment was for patients who still had detectable HCV-RNA at week 12.

"Patients who previously failed to respond to treatment now have a hope for viral eradication," added Dr. Bacon.