BI 201335 effective against Hep C variants-Boehringer

New data show that BI 201335 (faldaprevir), from Boehringer Ingelheim, used in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin, was effective even with the presence of naturally-occurring mutant variants of the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), such as the NS3 Q80K polymorphism. The Q80K mutant was detected in 23% (49/127, STARTVerso1) and 40% (159/398, STARTVerso2) of genotype-1a infected patients. Its presence was found to have no effect on the chances of viral cure (SVR12) in genotype-1 infected Hepatitis C patients treated with faldaprevir plus pegylated interferon and ribavirin.

Researchers say these data are encouraging as they demonstrate that HCV genotype-1 infected patients irrespective of the presence of the common HCV Q80K variant may benefit from faldaprevir. These data were presented at HEP DART 2013. Faldaprevir was recently granted accelerated assessment by the European Medicines Agency.