New hepatitis C combination treatment effective in HIV coinfected patients

Patients with both hepatitis C virus and HIV responded well to daclatasvir combined with sofosbuvir in a study.

New hepatitis C combination treatment effective in HIV connected patients. In the image, micrograph of a T cell infected by numerous, spheroid-shaped, mustard-colored human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) particles
Infection with HIV (pictured), concurrently with hepatitis C virus, can speed up the onset of liver disease

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

Worldwide, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection affects up to a quarter of people with HIV type 1 (HIV-1), accelerating the onset of liver disease. Now, results of an open-label study suggest that treatment with the NS5A inhibitor daclatasvir, together with the NS5B inhibitor sofosbuvir, is effective against HCV in HIV-coinfected patients.

The ALLY-2 tri
al, f
unded by Bristol-Myers Squibb and published in The
New England Journal of Medicine (online, 21 July 2015
[1]
), 
involved 151 previously untreated patients with HCV genotypes 1–4 and HIV-1 infection who were given daclatasvir 60mg plus sofosbu
vir 400mg daily for either 8 weeks or 12 weeks. The study also involved 52 previously treated patients who were given 12 weeks of therapy at the same doses.

In treatment-naïve patients, sustained virologic response (SVR) rates for HCV were 97.0% with 12 weeks’ treatment and 76.0% with 8 weeks’ treatment. In previously treated patients, SVR was 98.1% after 12 weeks.

References

[1] Wyles DL, Ruane PJ, Sulkowski MS et al. Daclatasvir plus sofosbuvir for HCV in patients coinfected with HIV-1. N Engl J Med  2015. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1503153.

Last updated
Citation
The Pharmaceutical Journal, PJ, 8/15 August 2015, Vol 295, No 7874/5;295(7874/5):DOI:10.1211/PJ.2015.20069093

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