Abbott has released promising data from two different interferon-free phase II studies for hepatitis C (HCV), suggesting that a 12-week regimen of two Abbott medicines, and no peginterferon, can achieve high cure rates for treatment-naïve, genotype 1 patients.

In the study known as "Co-Pilot," different doses of ABT-450/r, plus ABT-333 and ribavirin administered for 12 weeks showed sustained virological response at 12 weeks post treatment (SVR₁₂) in 95% and 93% of treatment-naïve genotype 1 patients. In these patients, response was independent of HCV subtype, host IL28B genotype or dose of ABT-450/r. In addition, SVR₁₂ was achieved in 47% of patients who were previous non-responders to past HCV treatment.

In a separate study, known as "Pilot," 91% of genotype 1 infected, treatment-naïve patients taking ABT-450/r and ABT-072 combined with ribavirin administered for 12 weeks, achieved sustained viral response at 24 weeks (SVR₂₄).

“We are extremely encouraged to see this level of sustained response with only 12 weeks of therapy in patients who were new to treatment, and to see a response in patients who had failed past treatment because options to cure this population are limited," said Fred Poordad, M.D., chief of hepatology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and the lead investigator for Co-Pilot and an investigator for Pilot. "These data suggest that an interferon-free, all-oral regimen of direct-acting antiviral medications could be an important new treatment option for HCV.”

This data is especially significant because current treatments for HCV remain interferon-based, despite a significant number of HCV patients unable or unwilling to take interferon due to contraindications and/or side effects. Specifically targeted antiviral therapies for HCV, such as protease inhibitors and non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitors, may have the potential to increase the proportion of patients in whom the virus can be eradicated.