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news.Chugai Pharmaceutical has said that the antiviral ribavirin, trade name Copegus, obtained an approval for combination therapy with the chronic hepatitis C treatment drug Pegasys.
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Copegus is an antiviral agent developed by F Hoffmann-La Roche for use in combination with Pegasys for treating chronic hepatitis C. After Copegus was filed in June 2005, it was designated for priority review.
In the Japanese phase III study of combination therapy of Pegasys and Copegus conducted in 300 patients with chronic hepatitis C, the sustained virological response was 59.4% in the combination group of Pegasys and Copegus for interferon naive patients with genotype 1b high viral load. It also showed a significantly higher virological response in comparison with that of 24% in the Pegasys monotherapy group.
Furthermore, a 51.4% virological response was also observed in the combination group for interferon non-responders with genotype 1b high viral load who are considered to be the most difficult to treat.
Chugai believes that the introduction of the combination therapy of Pegasys and Copegus leads to the advancement of chronic hepatitis C treatment.