Combination treatment for Hep C associated with favorable response among patients with HIV

HIV-infected patients also infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) who received a combination of the medications sofosbuvir plus ribavirin had high rates of sustained HCV virologic response 12 weeks after cessation of therapy, according to a study in the July 23/30 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on HIV/AIDS. The issue is being released early to coincide with the International AIDS Conference.

Up to 7 million persons worldwide are infected with both human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus. Treatment of this coinfection has been limited due to the need to use interferon (an antiviral protein used to treat HCV) and drug interactions with antiretroviral therapies (ARTs), according to background information in the article.

Mark S. Sulkowski, M.D., of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and colleagues evaluated the rates of sustained virologic response (SVR) (what is clinically considered "cure") and adverse events in 223 patients infected with HIV and HCV (genotypes 1, 2, or 3) who were treated with an interferon-free combination of the drugs sofosbuvir and ribavirin for 12 or 24 weeks. The trial was conducted at 34 treatment centers in the United States and Puerto Rico from August 2012 to November 2013.

Among participants with no prior treatment for HCV, 76 percent with genotype 1, 88 percent with genotype 2, and 67 percent with genotype 3 achieved SVR12 (serum HCV END