October 16th, 2012

Some Liver Meeting “Wow!” Studies Start to Emerge

The Liver Meeting, the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease, does not take place until November 9-13, in Boston.

But if you want a preview, a couple of notable studies have already been “announced” in the press.

Specifically, there’s this:

Abbott today announced initial results from “Aviator,” a phase 2b study of its interferon-free, investigational regimen for the treatment of hepatitis C (HCV). Initial results show sustained virological response at 12 weeks post treatment (SVR12) in 99 percent of treatment-naïve (n=77) and 93 percent of null responders (n=41) for genotype 1 (GT1) HCV patients taking a combination of ABT-450/r, ABT-267, ABT-333 and ribavirin for 12 weeks, based on an observed data analysis.

That regimen contains 5 drugs — HIV/ID docs will recognize the “/r” as familiar short hand for ritonavir boosting — but it’s hard to beat those response numbers. Note especially the 93% cure rate in interferon null responders — amazing.

If 5 drugs seems like too many, there’s also this:

[Bristol-Myers Squibb] said 94 percent of patients who took a combination of three experimental drugs, daclatasvir, asunaprevir, and BMS-791325, were cured in a 12-week study. Those patients did not take interferon or ribavirin.

Looks like it’s going to be an interesting meeting. That sentence may be the understatement of the year.

One Response to “Some Liver Meeting “Wow!” Studies Start to Emerge”

  1. Loretta S says:

    Wow, that is a wow. I sure hope this pans out. I have seen some patients treated for Hep C with interferon who told me the Tx made them wish they had died. I will be very interested to read about the side effects of the latest drug combos.

HIV Information: Author Paul Sax, M.D.

Paul E. Sax, MD

Contributing Editor

NEJM Journal Watch
Infectious Diseases

Biography | Disclosures | Summaries

Learn more about HIV and ID Observations.