A 3-D rendering of hepatitis C. (iStock)
Drugmaker AbbVie Inc said on Friday its experimental fixed-dose combination to treat certain hepatitis C virus patients achieved high sustained viral response (SVR) rates after eight weeks of treatment.
The once-daily fixed-dose combination, glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (G/P), was given to HCV patients without cirrhosis and who were new to treatment in three different studies.
About 97.5 percent of these patients achieved a high SVR rate, which is the most widely used efficacy endpoint in clinical studies of hepatitis C, representing removal of HCV from the body.
There were no adverse events during the eight-week regimen and patients across all major genotypes of chronic hepatitis C achieved high SVR rates.
"We're on track to submit our next generation, pan-genotypic regimen to regulatory authorities by the end of this year in the U.S. and early 2017 in the European Union and Japan," the company said.
About 130 million-150 million people live with chronic HCV worldwide. The World Health Organization estimates about 700,000 people die each year from liver diseases related to hepatitis C.
Shares of the North Chicago, Illinois-based company were down 1.84 percent in morning trade.
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