Telaprevir for retreatment of HCV infection.

BACKGROUND: Up to 60% of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection do not have a sustained virologic response to therapy with peginterferon alfa plus ribavirin. METHODS: In this randomized, phase 3 trial, we evaluated the addition of telaprevir to peginterferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin in patients with HCV genotype 1 infection who had no response or a partial response to previous therapy or who had a relapse after an initial response. A total of 663 patients were assigned to one of three groups: the T12PR48 group, which received telaprevir for 12 weeks and peginterferon plus ribavirin for a total of 48 weeks; the lead-in T12PR48 group, which received 4 weeks of peginterferon plus ribavirin followed by 12 weeks of telaprevir and peginterferon plus ribavirin for a total of 48 weeks; and the control group (PR48), which received peginterferon plus ribavirin for 48 weeks. The primary end point was the rate of sustained virologic response, which was defined as undetectable HCV RNA 24 weeks after the last planned dose of a study drug. RESULTS: Rates of sustained virologic response were significantly higher in the two telaprevir groups than in the control group among patients who had a previous relapse (83% in the T12PR48 group, 88% in the lead-in T12PR48 group, and 24% in the PR48 group), a partial response (59%, 54%, and 15%, respectively), and no response (29%, 33%, and 5%, respectively) (P<0.001 for all comparisons). Grade 3 adverse events (mainly anemia, neutropenia, and leukopenia) were more frequent in the telaprevir groups than in the control group (37% vs. 22%). CONCLUSIONS: Telaprevir combined with peginterferon plus ribavirin significantly improved rates of sustained virologic response in patients with previously treated HCV infection, regardless of whether there was a lead-in phase. (Funded by Tibotec and Vertex Pharmaceuticals; REALIZE ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00703118.).

Pimodivir treatment in adult volunteers experimentally inoculated with live influenza virus: a Phase IIa, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

BACKGROUND: Pimodivir (formerly JNJ-63623872) is a novel, non-nucleoside polymerase complex inhibitor with in vitro activity against influenza A virus, including pandemic 2009 H1N1, H7N9, H5N1 strains as well as neuraminidase- and amantadine-resistant strains. METHODS: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase IIa study. Healthy volunteers (n=104) were inoculated with an influenza A/Wisconsin/67/2005 (H3N2) challenge virus. 72 received pimodivir and 32 placebo. Pimodivir was dosed for 5 days once daily from 24 h after viral inoculation at four dose levels: 100 mg, 400 mg, loading dose 900/600 mg and loading dose 1,200/600 mg. RESULTS: Pimodivir significantly reduced viral shedding (area under the concentration versus time curve [AUC] measured by 50% tissue culture infective dose [TCID50] or qRT-PCR) versus placebo as measured by cell culture assay in the pooled analysis (Jonckheere-Terpstra dose-response trend test [P=0.036]). Reductions were observed in viral shedding (AUC, duration and peak measured by grade), influenza-like symptoms (AUC, duration and peak measured by grade) and clinical symptoms (duration and peak measured by grade) for all pimodivir groups versus placebo, significantly so for the 1,200/600 mg group. In the 1,200/600 mg group viral shedding (AUC) by qRT-PCR was 0.45 versus 18.4 log10 copies/ml*day for pooled placebo (P=0.014). Pimodivir was generally safe and well-tolerated with no serious adverse events or adverse events leading to discontinuation. CONCLUSIONS: Pimodivir has potential to not only reduce viral load but to have a clinical impact on patients as a novel treatment for influenza A virus infection. Further trials are therefore warranted to assess pimodivir.