Bristol-Myers files for Japanese approval of first all-oral, interferon/ribavirin-free hep C treatment

US drug major Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) has filed a New Drug Application with Japan’s Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Agency seeking approval for the world’s first interferon-free and ribavirin-free treatment regimen for patients with chronic hepatitis C.

The submission is based on results from a Phase III study demonstrating that the 24-week, all-oral, interferon-free and ribavirin-free regimen of daclatasvir (DCV) and asunaprevir (ASV) achieved an overall sustained virologic response 24 weeks after the end of treatment (SVR24) of 84.7% in Japanese patients with chronic hepatitis C (HCV) genotype 1b who were either interferon-ineligible/intolerant (87.4% SVR24) or non-responders (null and partial) to interferon-based therapies (80.5% SVR24).

“The Phase III study results of daclatasvir plus asunaprevir are exciting to see, especially in this difficult-to-treat patient population. If approved, this regimen has the potential to offer HCV patients in Japan, who are unable to achieve SVR with the current interferon-based standard of care, a new treatment option,” said lead study investigator Kazuaki Chayama of Hiroshima University, Japan.