People with genotype 1 of hepatitis C virus (HCV) who have failed Harvoni (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir) have a good chance of a cure from a second round of the drug lasting 24 weeks, aidsmap reports. Researchers treated 41 people, 33 of whom had failed 8 or 12 weeks of Harvoni, with or without ribavirin, and 8 of whom had failed Harvoni plus the experimental non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor GS-9669. They presented their findings at the 50th International Liver Congress in Vienna, Austria.

Forty-six percent of the participants had cirrhosis. About three out of four of the participants were treated for eight weeks and the remainder for 12 weeks.

Seventy-one percent of the study members achieved a sustained virologic response 12 weeks after completing therapy (SVR12, considered a cure).

Sixty-eight percent of those with cirrhosis were cured, while 74 percent of those without cirrhosis achieved a cure.

Those who had been treated for eight weeks had an 80 percent cure rate, while those who had failed a 12-week regimen had just a 46 percent cure rate. All of those who did not have NS5A resistance mutations at the beginning of the study were cured, while just 60 percent of those who did have these mutations were cured. Sixty-nine percent of those with one resistance-associated variant were cured, while 50 percent of those with two or more RAVs were cured.

The treatment was generally safe and well tolerated. The most common side effects were headache (15 percent) and fatigue (10 percent).

To read the aidsmap story, click here. http://www.aidsmap.com/When-a-short-course-of-sofosbuvirledipasvir-fails-some-people-can-be-cured-of-hepatitis-C-with-a-double-treatment-duration/page/2965963/

To read the study slides, click here.