HIV and ID Observations

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.