Hepatitis C News and Research

Latest Hepatitis C News and Research

BioLineRx starts enrollment in Phase I/II trial of BL-8020 for treatment of HCV

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical development company, announced today enrollment of the first patient in a Phase I/II trial for BL-8020, an orally available, interferon-free treatment for the Hepatitis C virus.

29 Apr 2013

Transgene announces pre-clinical data of TG1050 for treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection

Transgene SA, a biopharmaceutical company that develops targeted immunotherapy products to treat major unmet medical needs in cancer and chronic infectious diseases, announced pre-clinical data obtained with its novel immunotherapeutic, TG1050, to treat chronic hepatitis B infection.

29 Apr 2013

Baby boomers need to get tested for hepatitis C

If you were born during 1945-1965, talk to your doctor about getting tested for hepatitis C. Baby boomers are five times more likely than other adults to be infected. In fact, 75 percent of adults with hepatitis C were born during these years.

29 Apr 2013

UK’s health performance: an interview with Prof. Murray, University of Washington

Rates of premature mortality in the UK have been falling steadily, but the pace of decline is not as fast as in many other high-income countries, such as Australia. In that sense, the UK lags behind.

29 Apr 2013

GS-9620 therapy suppresses hepatitis B virus infection

A novel drug developed by Gilead Sciences and tested in an animal model at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio suppresses hepatitis B virus infection by stimulating the immune system and inducing loss of infected cells.

29 Apr 2013

Calcipotriol drug offers a potential treatment option for fibrotic diseases

Liver fibrosis results from an excessive accumulation of tough, fibrous scar tissue and occurs in most types of chronic liver diseases. In industrialized countries, the main causes of liver injury leading to fibrosis include chronic hepatitis virus infection, excess alcohol consumption and, increasingly, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

26 Apr 2013

NAFLD is an independent predictor of cardiovascular risk

A study presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2013 - which evaluated the relationship between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), early predictors of atherosclerosis and the 10-year Framingham risk score (FRS) - showed that NAFLD increases the risk of early atherosclerotic lesions independent of established cardiovascular (CV) risk factors.

26 Apr 2013

Urine tests could improve diagnosis of liver cancer

New data from two clinical trials presented today at the International Liver Congress- 2013 demonstrate substantial improvements in the detection of both hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CC) using diagnostic urine tests.

26 Apr 2013

New hope for patients with chronic HBV infection

Exciting new data presented today at the International Liver Congress- 2013 include rults from early in vitro and in vivo studies targeting covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), which may form the basis of a cure for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

25 Apr 2013

Studies demonstrate encouraging results for new direct-acting antiviral agents

New data from a number of clinical trials presented for the first time at the International Liver Congress- 2013 demonstrate encouraging results in the use of new direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) for the treatment of hepatitis C.

25 Apr 2013

Schizophrenia cardiovascular risk under-recognized in primary care

UK researchers have found that despite being a major contributor to premature deaths among patients with schizophrenia, cardiovascular disease is less likely to be recorded on their primary care records than people without schizophrenia.

25 Apr 2013

Vertex presents data of telaprevir Phase 3b CONCISE study in people with genotype 1 chronic HCV

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated today announced new data from an interim analysis of the exploratory global Phase 3b CONCISE study evaluating the potential to shorten total treatment with telaprevir combination therapy to 12 weeks in certain people with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C virus infection who have the IL28B CC genotype.

25 Apr 2013

Democratic Sen. Harkin puts hold on Tavenner's nomination

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has placed a hold on one of President Obama's top healthcare nominees. Marilyn Tavenner had previously seemed poised for an easy, bipartisan confirmation as the administrator of the federal Medicare and Medicaid agency.

25 Apr 2013

Janssen submits Marketing Authorization Application to EMA for simeprevir approval

Medivir AB today announces that Janssen-Cilag International NV today has submitted a Marketing Authorization Application to the European Medicines Agency seeking approval for simeprevir (TMC435).

25 Apr 2013

Dietary substitution of saturated fats enriched in MCT prevents liver disease

Scientists at the Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center, a U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service Human Nutrition Research Center at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, led by Dr. Martin Ronis have determined that dietary substitution of saturated fats enriched in medium chain triglycerides (MCT) for polyunsaturated fat prevents the development of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

25 Apr 2013

Sofosbuvir is safer than interferon for hepatitis C patients, say scientists

A new drug is offering dramatic cure rates for hepatitis C patients with two subtypes of the infection -- genotype 2 and 3, say a team of scientists led by Weill Cornell Medical College researchers.

25 Apr 2013

Targeted screening for chronic hepatitis C virus infection is cost-effective, say researchers

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have found that targeted screening for populations with a higher estimated prevalence for hepatitis C may be cost-effective.

25 Apr 2013

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.

24 Apr 2013

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.

24 Apr 2013

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.

24 Apr 2013