Achillion Pharmaceuticals saw its stocks soar following its announcement that it has successfully demonstrated the efficacy of a new eight-week program to cure patients with heptatitis C.
Stocks of the New Haven, Connecticut-based drug developer jumped by as much as 19 percent on Monday, Feb. 9, following the release of updated interim results of its ongoing Phase 2 study to evaluate the effectiveness of a new kind of treatment that is interferon-free and ribavirin-free over the course of six weeks.
The results show 100 percent of the 12 treatment-naïve genotype 1 patients infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) have remained free of HCV 12 weeks after treatment, including in-patients who were found to have a high baseline viral load, independent of patients' gender and the status of their IL28B gene. Additionally, 100 percent of 12 patients who participated in an earlier eight-week treatment plan have been HCV-free for 24 weeks after the treatment.
The treatment involves 50mg of Achillion's NS5A inhibitor, a new drug currently called ACH-3102, in combination with 400mg of the nucleotide polymerase inhibitor sofosbuvir, specifically Gilead's Sovaldi.
"The achievement of 100 percent SVR12 (sustained viral response 12 weeks) after six weeks of treatment with a dual NS5A-nucleotide regimen even in patients with high baseline viral load who would otherwise require extended duration treatments supports our belief that ACH-3102 can unleash the potential of this combination to drive down treatment duration," said Dr. David Apelian, chief medical officer of Achillion, in a statement.
Dr. Apelian also said Achillion is entering a new phase to test the efficacy of all of its HCV assets, including ACH-3102, ACH-3422, and sovaprevir, within a treatment duration of four and six weeks as well as sofosbuvir-sparing treatment plans that combine sofosbuvir with ACH-3102 and sovaprevir.
"Our goal is to deliver shorter duration, widely accessible treatments to all HCV patients," said Dr. Milind Deshpande, president and CEO of Achillion. "We believe that these results with ACH-3102 represent the shortest duration and highest response achieved to date with any two-drug direct-acting antiviral regiment for HCV."
The current standard treatment for HCV is 12 weeks. To date, the shortest approved treatment for hepatitis C is Gilead's Harvoni, which successfully treats some patients over a period of eight weeks. Although other drug developers have set their sights on the goal of shortening treatment periods, only Achillion has so far been successful, but it remains to be seen whether Achillion will hold on to its new advantage in the highly saturated HCV market.
More than 5 million people in the United States have hepatitis C, which is the most common cause of viral hepatitis. Around three-quarters of all people with HCV are left undiagnosed. If untreated, HCV can cause liver damage and lead to debilitating health conditions such as liver cancer and liver failure.
