In mid-April, Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., initiated an international Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating its new drug ACH-3102, in combination with ribavirin and another one of its drugs, sovaprevir (ACH-1625), for the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, genotype 1.
ACH-3102 is a second-generation pan-genotypic (effective against all types of HCV) NS5A inhibitor. The NS5A protein directs production of virus particles, interacts with host proteins and is associated with interferon resistance. The 12-week trial will evaluate the effectiveness of the drug combination on previously untreated patients.
“In previous clinical trials, both sovaprevir and ACH-3102 were shown to be efficacious, safe, well-tolerated, and had demonstrated a high barrier to resistance. Hence, we believe that a combination of these two agents for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C has the potential to be well-tolerated and provide high SVR rates," commented Milind Deshpande, PhD, President of Research and Development and Chief Scientific Officer of Achillion.
Source: HartfordBusiness.com, April 16, 2013
