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news.The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved AbbVie's supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for the use of VIEKIRA PAK (ombitasvir, paritaprevir, and ritonavir tablets; dasabuvir tablets) without ribavirin (RBV) in patients with genotype 1b (GT1b) chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and compensated cirrhosis (Child-Pugh A).
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The application was previously granted priority review by the FDA, a designation given to investigational therapies that treat a serious condition and provide a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness.
VIEKIRA PAK is a prescription medicine used with or without RBV to treat adults with genotype 1 (GT1) chronic (lasting a long time) HCV infection, and can be used in people who have a certain type of cirrhosis (compensated). VIEKIRA PAK is not for people with advanced cirrhosis (decompensated). Patients with cirrhosis should talk to a doctor before taking VIEKIRA PAK.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that in the United States, approximately 2.7 million people are chronically infected with HCV. Genotype 1 is the most common HCV in the U.S.2 Of the total U.S. population with GT1 HCV infection, approximately 77 percent are genotype 1a (GT1a) and 23 percent are GT1b.
"We are constantly striving to advance clinical care for patients living with chronic hepatitis C," said Michael Severino, M.D., executive vice president, research and development and chief scientific officer, AbbVie.
"This approval is especially significant because patients with chronic HCV with compensated cirrhosis are among the tough to treat, and in our study VIEKIRA PAK demonstrated 100 percent cure rates in GT1b patients without the use of ribavirin."
"This provides a very useful option for people infected with genotype 1b infection and compensated cirrhosis. The ability to cure these individuals with just 12 weeks of treatment and without the need for ribavirin is a great benefit," said TURQUOISE-III lead investigator Jordan J. Feld, MD, MPH, research director and clinician scientist, Toronto Center for Liver Disease, Toronto, Canada. "The outstanding 100 percent cure rate from the study confirms that this is likely to be a very effective strategy."
The TURQUOISE-III study included in the sNDA evaluated the use of VIEKIRA PAK without RBV for 12 weeks in GT1b patients with compensated cirrhosis (Child-Pugh A). Results demonstrated 100 percent (N=60/60) sustained virologic response at 12 weeks post-treatment (SVR12). Patients who achieve SVR12 are considered cured of HCV, as the virus is no longer detectable in the blood. No patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events.
The most commonly-reported adverse events (?10 percent) were fatigue (22 percent), diarrhea (20 percent), headache (18 percent), arthralgia (10 percent), dizziness (10 percent), insomnia (10 percent) and pruritus (10 percent).
On February 26, AbbVie announced that the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) granted a positive opinion for VIEKIRAX (ombitasvir/ paritaprevir/ ritonavir tablets) + EXVIERA (dasabuvir tablets) and this RBV-free option is now approved for use for the treatment of chronic HCV infected GT1b patients with compensated cirrhosis (Child-Pugh A) in Europe.
About the TURQUOISE-III Study
TURQUOISE-III is a multi-center, open-label, single-arm Phase 3b study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of 12 weeks of treatment with VIEKIRA PAK without ribavirin (RBV) in adult patients (N=60) with genotype 1b (GT1b) chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and compensated liver cirrhosis (Child-Pugh A) who were treatment-naïve or treatment-experienced (failed previous therapy with pegylated interferon and RBV). The primary endpoint is the rate of sustained virologic response 12 weeks after treatment (SVR12).