Deleobuvir is out of the running in the mad dash to bring new hepatitis C virus (HCV) drugs to the market. Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) announced that, following disappointing results from the Phase III HCVerso 1 and 2 trials of deleobuvir with faldaprevir and ribavirin, the company will cease any further development of the non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor.

In previous Phase IIb study results released in June 2013, the triple combination cured 95 percent of people with genotype 1b of hep C, but only 17 percent of those with genotype 1a.  Now, with other interferon-free therapies besting the efficacy rate of the regimen, BI has concluded that further investment in deleobuvir’s development is unjustified.

Meanwhile, BI will continue to develop its investigational protease inhibitor faldaprevir.

To read the BI release, click here.