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news.An interferon enhancer being developed by Transition Therapeutics has shown signs of efficacy after 12 weeks of a phase I/II trial in the treatment of patients with hepatitis C who have not responded to treatment with the current gold standard therapy for the disease.
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The product, HCV-IET, combines Transition’s interferon enhancer, EMZ702, with the current standard of care for hepatitis C, a combination therapy of pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin.
The study data demonstrated that six of 21 (28%) of the hepatitis C non-responder patients that were treated for 12-weeks had a greater than 99% reduction of virus levels (2 log10 decrease).
The preliminary safety data collected to date reveals no serious safety concerns with EMZ702. The type of side effects observed in the study were consistent with expected adverse events for interferon and ribavirin treatment. However, the highest dose of EMZ702 in combination with interferon and ribavirin appears to increase the incidence rate and/or severity of skin rash.
“This trial showed signs of efficacy in non-responding hepatitis C patients, a patient population without any approved treatments available. Our next steps in the development of the product will be to work with a partner to perform a larger study to identify the optimal dosing regimen for this therapy,” said Dr Tony Cruz, chairman and CEO of Transition.