All-oral combinations of direct-acting antivirals may improve efficacy and safety outcomes for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, particularly those who are poor candidates for current interferon/ribavirin-based regimens. In this open-label, phase 3 study, 135 interferon-ineligible/intolerant and 87 nonresponder patients with chronic HCV genotype 1b infection were enrolled at 24 centers in Japan. Patients received daclatasvir 60 mg once daily plus asunaprevir 100 mg twice daily for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was sustained virologic response 24 weeks after treatment (SVR24). This study is registered with http://ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01497834). SVR24 was achieved by 87.4% of interferon-ineligible/intolerant patients and 80.5% of nonresponder (null and partial) patients; rates were similar in cirrhosis (90.9%) and noncirrhosis (84.0%) patients, and in patients with IL28B CC (84.5%) or non-CC (84.8%) genotypes. Fourteen patients in each group (12.6%) discontinued dual therapy, mainly due to adverse events or lack of efficacy. Nine nonresponder patients received additional treatment with peginterferon/ribavirin per protocol-defined criteria. The rate of serious adverse events was low (5.9%) and varied among patients. The most common adverse events were nasopharyngitis, increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), headache, diarrhea, and pyrexia. Conclusion: Interferon-free, ribavirin-free all-oral therapy with daclatasvir and asunaprevir for 24 weeks is well tolerated and can achieve a high rate of SVR in patients with HCV genotype 1b who were ineligible, intolerant, or had not responded to prior interferon-based therapy. (Hepatology 2014;59:2083–2091)

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Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and previous null response to pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) have limited therapeutic options. HCV genotype 1 is the most common worldwide and the most difficult to treat; genotype 1b is the most common subtype of genotype 1 outside North America. The enhanced antiviral activity achieved by combining two direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents may improve clinical outcomes. This open-label, phase IIa study included 10 patients with chronic HCV genotype 1b infection and previous null response (<2 log10 reduction in HCV RNA after 12 weeks) to Peg-IFN and RBV. Patients received dual DAA treatment for 24 weeks with the nonstructural protein 5A replication complex inhibitor, daclatasvir (60 mg once-daily), and the nonstructural protein 3 protease inhibitor, asunaprevir (initially 600 mg twice-daily, then subsequently reduced to 200 mg twice-daily). The primary efficacy endpoint was the proportion of patients with sustained virologic response (SVR) at 12 weeks post-treatment (SVR12). Nine patients completed 24 weeks of treatment; 1 patient discontinued treatment after 2 weeks. In the 9 patients who completed the full course of treatment, HCV RNA was undetectable at week 8 and remained undetectable through the end of treatment; all 9 patients achieved SVR12 and SVR24. HCV RNA also remained undetectable post-treatment in the patient who discontinued after 2 weeks. There was no viral breakthrough. Diarrhea and headache, generally mild, were the most common adverse events; transaminase elevations were reported in 3 patients, but did not result in discontinuation. Conclusions : Dual therapy with daclatasvir and asunaprevir, without Peg-IFN and RBV, can achieve high SVR rates in difficult-to-treat patients with HCV genotype 1b infection and previous null response to Peg-IFN and RBV.

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The aims of this phase III study were to assess the efficacy and safety of telaprevir in combination with peginterferon alfa-2b (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) for difficult-to-treat patients who had not achieved sustained virological response (SVR) to prior regimens in Japan. The subjects were 109 relapsers (median age of 57.0 years) and 32 nonresponders (median age of 57.5 years) with hepatitis C virus genotype 1. Patients received telaprevir (750 mg every 8 h) for 12 weeks and PEG-IFN/RBV for 24 weeks. The SVR rates for relapsers and nonresponders were 88.1% (96/109) and 34.4% (11/32), respectively. Specified dose modifications of RBV that differed from that for the standard of care were introduced to alleviate anaemia. RBV dose reductions were used for 139 of the 141 patients. The SVR rates for relapsers did not depend on RBV dose reduction for 20–100% of the planned dose (SVR rates 87.5–100%, P < 0.05). Skin disorders were observed in 82.3% (116/141). Most of the skin disorders were controllable by anti-histamine and/or steroid ointments. The ratios of discontinuation of telaprevir only or of all the study drugs because of adverse events were 21.3% (30/141) and 16.3% (23/141), respectively. A frequent adverse event leading to discontinuation was anaemia. Telaprevir in combination with PEG-IFN/RBV led to a high SVR rate for relapsers and may offer a potential new therapy for nonresponders even with a shorter treatment period.