Merck & Co. said Friday that its experimental drug
combination for treating chronic hepatitis C patients demonstrated
a 95% effective rate in a late-stage study.
The study combined grazoprevir and elbasvir in a once-daily
tablet and was administered to previously untreated patients, some
of whom also had HIV and liver cirrhosis, for 12 weeks.
"Patients with co-morbidities and varying treatment experiences
represent important segments of the chronic hepatitis C population
in need of additional innovative treatment options," said Dr. Eric
Lawitz, vice president at the Texas Liver Institute.
A Merck spokesperson said the company remains on track to submit
a New Drug Application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
in the first half of 2015.
The combined tablet from Merck poses a potential threat to
Gilead Sciences Inc.
Also on Friday, Gilead announced results from a midstage study
that combined its blockbuster drugs Harvoni and Sovaldi to treat
patients with advanced liver disease. Its study showed an 86%
effective rate in pretransplant patients, and a 96% cure rate in
post-transplant noncirrhotic patients with recurrent hepatitis
C.
The two drugs represented more than half of Gilead's 2014
revenue.
Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com
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