Twelve weeks of AbbVie’s “3D” regimen cured 93.5 percent of those with genotype 1 of hep C who were coinfected with HIV, including those with cirrhosis, in a recent Phase II/III trial. Following a recent theme in hep C care, the results were in line with those of HCV-positive people without HIV who were treated with the same drugs.

The 3D regimen is made up of a fixed-dose combination of the NS3/4A protease inhibitor ABT-450 and ritonavir coformulated with the NS5A inhibitor ombitasvir (ABT-267), as well as the non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor dasabuvir (ABT-333). In this study the regimen was given with ribavirin.

There were no serious adverse effects to 3D in the trial. The most commonly reported side effects were fatigue, insomnia, nausea, headache, upper respiratory infection and itching.

The study’s lead author, Joseph J. Eron, MD, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, says that while the 3D regimen provides “alternatives in the interferon-sparing world as it rapidly approaches,” he imagines that AbbVie will likely only succeed in steering significant numbers away from Gilead’s new once-a-day Harvoni (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir) combination pill if the price is right.