Idenix hepatitis C pill shows promise in trial
Fri Nov 11, 2005 11:00 AM ET
NEW YORK, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. (IDIX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday a drug cocktail that included its experimental hepatitis C pill worked better and more quickly than standard therapy in suppressing the virus in patients who had failed to benefit from earlier treatments.
The data from a 12-week mid-stage clinical trial showed that more patients with the hardest-to-treat form of the virus seemed to dramatically reduce the levels of virus in their blood when using the new drug compared with those taking the current best-selling combination therapy.
In the trial, Idenix's NM283 drug in combination with a long-acting form of the immune system protein interferon improved suppression of the virus and increased the number of patients whose levels of hepatitis C virus were quickly driven down, the firm said.
The results compared the effectiveness of the cocktail containing Idenix's drug, named valopicitabine, with standard therapy -- a combination of long-acting interferon and an antiviral pill called ribavirin.
"We are very encouraged. We are very confident that we will continue to see beyond the 12 weeks that (the viral load) will continue to go down," Idenix chief executive Jean-Pierre Sommadossi said in a telephone interview.
Idenix's drug is a once-a-day pill which blocks the virus's spread by inhibiting the enzyme, RNA polymerase. Novartis AG (NOVN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) , which owns 54 percent of the firm, has an option to license the drug, the first in a class which Idenix hopes will change treatment of hepatitis C.
Current combination treatments are sold by the Swiss drug maker Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) , whose interferon product is called Pegasys, and Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , whose interferon is called Peg-Intron.
Patients taking the combo therapies, however, have to endure side-effects such as depression, fever and chills during the typical 48 weeks of treatment.
Even then, only about half of patients with the hard-to-treat genotype 1 form of the virus are able to eliminate if from their bloodstream.
More than 4 million people in the United States are believed infected with hepatitis C, which slowly damages the liver over a period of years, often leading to cirrhosis or liver cancer.
Separately, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Friday said it was on track by year's end to start a 28-day Phase II study of its own VX-950 drug against hepatitis C, also in combination with long-acting interferon.
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