Merck's Zepatier shows superiority over sofosbuvir + pegIFN/RBV

15 April 2016

A new direct acting antiviral (DAA) combo for hepatitis c infection is more effective than sofosbuvir and peg-interferon plus ribavirin, according to new data presented this week at the International Liver Congress taking place in Barcelona, Spain.

US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) presented results from C-EDGE Head-to-Head, the company’s comparative, Phase III, open-label clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of Zepatier (elbasvir and grazoprevir) 50mg/100mg tablets versus a regimen of sofosbuvir 400mg tablets plus peginterferon and ribavirin (pegIFN/RBV) in treatment-naïve and pegIFN/RBV treatment-experienced patients with chronic hepatitis C (HCV) genotype (GT) 1 or GT4 infection (abstract #PS002).

In this study, Zepatier, which was just approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in January, demonstrated superiority on efficacy and safety endpoints compared to sofosbuvir plus pegIFN/RBV, based on pre-specified analyses.

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