Gilead Sciences’ Vosevi (sofosbuvir/velpatasvir/voxilaprevir) is highly effective as a salvage treatment for those who have not been cured of hepatitis C virus (HCV) by previous therapy.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved 12 weeks of Vosevi as salvage therapy for those who were not previously cured by direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment, in particular those who have any genotype of hep C who previously took a DAA from the NS5A inhibitor class and those who have genotype 1a or 3 of HCV and who previously took Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), which is included in Harvoni (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir) and Epclusa (sofosbuvir/velpatasvir).

Presenting their findings at the 53rd International Liver Congress in Vienna, researchers presented real-world findings from the TRIO network of 196 people in the United States who started Vosevi between July 2017 and April 2018.

A total of 173 (88 percent) of the participants had been treated for HCV previously. Ninety-two (53 percent) of them had taken Harvoni with or without ribavirin.

Eighty-two (42 percent) participants had cirrhosis, 81 (41 percent) had high blood pressure and 77 (43 percent) had Stage 1 to 3 of chronic kidney disease.

One person was lost to follow-up, eight discontinued treatment and one died. This left 186 people, of whom 183 (98 percent) achieved a sustained virologic response 12 weeks after completing therapy (SVR12, considered a cure).

Of the 165 people with previous hep C treatment experience about whom there were cure data, 163 (99 percent) were cured of the virus.