The parties will conduct large scale genetic studies on samples from hundreds of patients with HCV who have been treated, successfully and unsuccessfully, with interferon alfa and ribavirin, the current standard of care for this disease. The program hopes that patients with genetic signatures indicating a likelihood of positive response will be more likely to undergo treatment, despite the associated side effects.
Paul Pockros, president of the SCLRC, said: “The ability to help predict response to therapy could be a vital tool in our effort to cure hepatitis C in millions of patients infected with this virus.”