Treatment With Ledipasvir-Sofosbuvir for 12 or 24 Weeks in Kidney Transplant Recipients With Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 1 or 4 Infection: A Randomized Trial.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Use of interferon and ribavirin to treat chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in kidney transplant recipients is limited because of the risk for allograft rejection and poor tolerability. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the interferon- and ribavirin-free regimen ledipasvir-sofosbuvir in kidney transplant recipients with chronic genotype 1 or 4 HCV infection. DESIGN: Randomized, phase 2, open-label study. (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02251717). SETTING: 5 sites in Europe. PATIENTS Treatment-naive or -experienced kidney transplant recipients with chronic genotype 1 or 4 HCV infection, with or without compensated cirrhosis, and with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of 40 mL/min or greater were randomly assigned 11 to receive ledipasvir (90 mg) and sofosbuvir (400 mg) for 12 or 24 weeks. MEASUREMENTS The primary end point was sustained virologic response at 12 weeks after therapy ended (SVR12). RESULTS: Among 114 patients, the median age was 53 years, 58% were male, 91% had genotype 1 infection, 69% were treatment naive, and 15% had compensated cirrhosis. The median eGFR was 56 mL/min (range, 35 to 135 mL/min). One hundred percent of patients (57 of 57) treated for 12 weeks (95% CI, 94% to 100%) and 100% of those (57 of 57) treated for 24 weeks (CI, 94% to 100%) achieved SVR12. Serious adverse events were reported in 13 patients (11%). Of these, 3 events-syncope, pulmonary embolism, and serum creatinine increase-in 3 patients were determined to be treatment related. One patient permanently discontinued treatment because of an adverse event (syncope). The most frequent adverse events overall were headache (n = 22 [19%]), asthenia (n = 16 [14%]), and fatigue (n = 11 [10%]). LIMITATIONS: The study was open label, no inferential statistics were planned, and only patients with genotype 1 or 4 infection were included. Few patients with HCV genotype 1a and cirrhosis were enrolled. CONCLUSION: Treatment with ledipasvir-sofosbuvir for 12 or 24 weeks was well-tolerated and seemed to have an acceptable safety profile among kidney transplant recipients with HCV genotype 1 or 4 infection, all of whom achieved SVR12. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE Gilead Sciences.