Viekira Pak Effective With or Without Ribavirin

June 30, 2015

Davy James, Managing Editor

Article

Patients with genotype 1b hepatitis C achieve sustained virologic response after 12 weeks.

Patients with genotype 1b hepatitis C achieve sustained virologic response after 12 weeks.

Viekira Pak was found to be an effective therapy for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) regardless of whether the combination was used with ribavirin, according to a recent study.

Yesterday, AbbVie released the results of the TURQUOISE-III study, which evaluated the safety and efficacy of 12 weeks of treatment with Viekira Pak without ribavirin in 60 adult patients with genotype 1b chronic HCV infection and compensated liver cirrhosis. The patients were either treatment-naïve or previously failed therapy with pegylated interferon and ribavirin.

The primary endpoint for the study was the rate of sustained virologic response 12 weeks after treatment, which was achieved by all 60 patients enrolled.

"Genotype 1b represents a large portion of HCV patients globally, as it is the most prevalent sub-genotype, and there is a need to continue to explore additional treatment regimens," Jordan J. Feld, MD, MPH, research director and clinician scientist at the Toronto Center for Liver Disease, said in a press release. "The results of TURQUOISE-III are promising, demonstrating that genotype 1b HCV patients with compensated liver cirrhosis have the potential to achieve high response rates with an interferon and ribavirin-free treatment in 12 weeks."

None of the patients were forced to discontinue treatment as a result of adverse side effects. The most common adverse events reported were fatigue (22%), diarrhea (20%) and headache (18%).

"In the TURQUOISE-III study, GT1b patients with compensated liver cirrhosis achieved a 100% cure rate with [Viekira Pak] without ribavirin," Scott Brun, MD, vice president of pharmaceutical development at AbbVie said in a press release. "TURQUOISE-III is part of our Phase 3b program, which aims to further enhance our understanding of AbbVie's regimen in HCV populations seen in clinical practice, and supports our commitment to continued investigation in this field."