Merck’s Zepatier (grazoprevir/elbasvir) and Gilead Sciences’ Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), with or without ribavirin, cured very high rates of those with difficult-to-treat genotype 3 of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and cirrhosis, aidsmap reports.

Researchers from the C-ISLE study of 100 people with genotype 3, 53 percent of whom had been treated before, presented their findings at the Annual Meeting of tThe American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in Boston.

Those who were being treated for hep C for the first time were randomized to receive Zepatier and Sovaldi with ribavirin for eight weeks or without ribavirin for 12 weeks. Those who had failed a previous hep C treatment were randomized to receive Zepatier and Sovaldi with or without ribavirin for 12 weeks or without ribavirin for 16 weeks.

Among those treated for the first time, 91 percent of those who took Zepatier and Sovaldi plus ribavirin achieved a sustained virologic response 12 weeks after completing therapy (SVR12, considered a cure), compared with 96 percent of those who were treated for 12 weeks without ribavirin.  Among those who had been treated before, the cure rates were 100 percent for those who received 12 weeks of Zepatier and Sovaldi only, 94 percent for those who received 12 weeks of Zepatier and Sovaldi with ribavirin, and 94 percent for those who received 16 weeks of Zepatier and Sovaldi without ribavirin.

To read the aidsmap article, click here.