Data from the study demonstrate that sustained virologic response 12 weeks after the end of treatment (SVR12) was reached in 75 to 85 percent of treatment-naïve patients and 65 to 95 percent of prior null responders with HCV genotype 1b after 12 or 24 weeks of treatment.

“We are pleased to report on the successfully completed exploratory phase IIa clinical trial of simeprevir and daclatasvir. The results are promising, but further studies would be required in order to fully assess the potential of the simeprevir/daclatasvir combination.” says Charlotte Edenius, EVP Development, Medivir AB.

The study results are from a phase IIa trial evaluating simeprevir, a once-daily protease inhibitor jointly developed by Janssen R&D Ireland and Medivir AB, in combination with daclatasvir, an investigational once-daily NS5A inhibitor developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb, with and without ribavirin, in patients with hepatitis C (HCV) genotype 1 infection, have been presented at the 21th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) on March 4th in Boston, USA. The study was conducted by Bristol-Myers Squibb.

In this phase IIa open-label study, HCV genotype 1b treatment-naive patients (N=104) and prior null responders (N=43) were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive daclatasvir 30mg QD + simeprevir 150mg QD with or without ribavirin. Two treatment durations were evaluated: patients who completed 12 weeks treatment were re-randomized (1:1) to stop at Week 12 or continue treatment through Week 24.

In an exploratory evaluation of HCV genotype 1a patients, treatment naive (N=12) and prior null responder patients (N=9) received daclatasvir + simeprevir + ribavirin for 24 weeks.

The all-oral combination of daclatasvir plus simeprevir, with and without ribavirin, was generally well tolerated. There were two treatment-related serious adverse events (neurotoxicity, liver disorder) and one on-treatment death (unrelated trauma-associated intracranial hematoma). Three patients experienced treatment-related adverse events leading to discontinuation. Seventeen patients experienced grade 3/4 total bilirubin elevations without concurrent transaminase elevations, mostly in patients receiving ribavirin (14/17), consistent with ribavirin-induced hemolysis and known effects of simeprevir on bilirubin transporters.

Source: Medivir