Achillion Pharma moves up as a contender in the HCV market, GlobalData believes

On September 27, Achillion Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ACHN) released news of positive results surrounding Phase Ia trials testing ACH-3102, an NS5A inhibitor drug created to treat chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections. In the past few months, developers in this space have faced serious concerns, note analysts at GlobalData.

Bristol-Myers Squibb’s (NYSE: BMY) HCV drug candidate BMS-986094, another NS5A inhibitor, recently caused the death of a patient during Phase IIb trials as a result of heart failure. The US Food and Drug Administration, in response to this adverse event, moved to halt clinical trials on competitor Idenix Pharmaceuticals’ HCV NS5A inhibitor, IDX184.

Currently, the leading drugs on the market, Vertex’s Incivek (telaprevir) and Merck & Co’s Victrelis (boceprevir) are only indicated with the use of Pegasys (pegylated interferon-alpha) and ribavirin, which fall short on multiple counts. Most important, however, are the toxicity issues associated with the use of ribavirin and Pegasys, and the fact these treatments do not intrinsically eliminate the virus, but instead stimulate the immune system to help deal with the viral infection. Both Incivek and Victrelis are NS5A inhibitors, which offer a glimpse into the market possibilities for a drug like Achillion’s ACH-3102. In contrast, Achillion has stated that further trials will test ACH-3102 in combination with ribavirin but not Pegasys. Nevertheless, this approach keeps in line with the trend of using NS5A inhibitors in combination with other Direct-Acting Antiviral (DAA) therapies.