AASLD 2015

infohep news

• Therapies

  Sofosbuvir plus ribavirin shows suboptimal efficacy for acute hepatitis C

  Liz Highleyman / 25 February 2016

  A combination of sofosbuvir (Sovaldi) and ribavirin cured more than 90% of hepatitis C in people living with HIV and acute hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in a small study, but a similar ...

• MiR-122 inhibitor RG-101 suppresses hepatitis C virus with a single dose

  Liz Highleyman / 15 February 2016

  A single injection of RG-101, an experimental drug that targets the micro-RNA miR-122 in liver cells, reduced hepatitis C virus (HCV) levels by more than 4 log10 in people with HCV genotypes 1, ...

• Interferon-free regimens

  Three-drug regimens taken for 8 weeks demonstrate high hepatitis C cure rate

  Liz Highleyman / 13 January 2016

  An interferon-free regimen containing Merck's grazoprevir, the NS5A inhibitors elbasvir or MK8404, and the experimental nucleotide polymerase inhibitor MK-3682, taken for 8 weeks, cured more than 90% of hepatitis C ...

• Finance, funding & health economics

  United States faces biggest burden of hepatitis C treatment costs before 2020

  Keith Alcorn / 11 December 2015

  The cost of treating hepatitis C (HCV) is likely to decline dramatically over the next decade in the United States, not because of cuts in drug prices but because the population in ...

• Resistance

  High HCV cure rate demonstrated for people retreated after failure of short course direct-acting antiviral therapy

  Liz Highleyman / 09 December 2015

  People with hepatitis C who did not achieve sustained virological response with a prior short course of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy had a high likelihood of being cured if treated again with sofosbuvir/ledipasvir ...

• Fibrosis

  Coffee consumption linked to reduced liver fibrosis in people with HBV, HCV and NAFLD

  Liz Highleyman / 08 December 2015

  Drinking coffee was associated with lower liver stiffness – a non-invasive measure used to estimate liver fibrosis – in people with hepatitis B, hepatitis C and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), researchers reported ...

• Treatment outcomes

  Clinical impact of effective HCV DAAs: referrals for liver transplant drop after their introduction

  Keith Alcorn / 04 December 2015

  The number of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related referrals for liver transplant has declined significantly since the introduction of HCV direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), according to two US studies presented to the recent  2015 ...

• Treatment for people who use drugs

  Study reveals potential challenges for scaling up of HCV therapy in UK

  Michael Carter / 03 December 2015

  A large proportion of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in the UK have co-morbidities, hazardous use of drugs and alcohol and are taking medications that can potentially interact with HCV ...

• Genotype 1b

  Triple DAA regimen cures hepatitis C patients with rapid response in just 3 weeks

  Liz Highleyman / 02 December 2015

  Response-guided therapy using an all-oral regimen of three direct-acting antivirals cured a majority of easier-to-treat genotype 1b hepatitis C patients in just 3 weeks, according to results from the small SODAPI pilot study, ...

• Treatment outcomes

  Liver fibrosis improves after successful treatment for hepatitis C

  Liz Highleyman / 02 December 2015

  A majority of people with chronic hepatitis C and advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis showed improvement in liver health following treatment, according to study findings presented last week at the 2015 AASLD Liver ...