Real world study of Zepatier (elbasvir + grazoprevir) shows benefits in hepatitis C- Merck Inc

Merck Inc announced the presentation of findings from a retrospective database analysis of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection who were administered Zepatier (elbasvir + grazoprevir) in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system. For the evaluable population (n=2,436), 95.6 percent of veterans treated with Zepatier achieved the primary outcome of sustained virologic response (SVR), defined as undetectable HCV RNA at least twelve weeks after the end of treatment. For patients with no HCV RNA measurements at or after 12 weeks (19% of the study cohort), the analysis used HCV RNA measurements available at least four and less than 12 weeks after the end of treatment. The response rates in the real-world setting of the VA supplement the overall findings from the controlled clinical studies of Zepatier.

The SVR rates by genotype (GT) were as follows: all GT1, 95.4 percent (2218/2324); GT1a, 93.4 percent (788/844); GT1b, 96.6 percent (1379/1428); and GT4, 96.9 percent (62/64). The SVR rates by baseline viral load (BVL) were as follows: BVL greater than 800,000 IU/ml, 94.7 percent (1497/1580); and BVL less than or equal to 800,000 IU/ml, 97.3 percent (726/746). Adverse event data were not collected as part of this real-world data analysis. These findings will be presented in an oral session (abstract #PS-095) at The International Liver Congress 2017.