Anadys hepatitis C drug meets key study goals

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Anadys hepatitis C drug meets key study goals

SAN DIEGO

Anadys Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Thursday its experimental hepatitis C drug is

meeting key goals in a midstage clinical trial.

The company said 56 percent of patients receiving ANA598 in a combination

treatment had undetectable levels of the virus after four weeks, based on the

interim data. The patients also received pegylated interferon and Ribavirin,

which is considered the standard of care for the virus.

The results compare with 20 percent of patients receiving placebo plus the

standard of care achieving undetectable levels of hepatitis C. Patients will

receive ANA598 for 12 weeks in the study, followed by standard of care treatment

for 12 or 36 additional weeks.

Hepatitis C is a viral infection causing swelling of the liver and can lead to

scarring and potential liver failure.

An independent committee recommended escalating the study to a dose of 400

milligrams from 200 milligrams. The company expects to start the additional dose

in January.

Earlier this year, a large number of patients dropped out of an early stage

study after they developed a rash. In the most recent results, the company said

eight patients reported a rash through the interim analysis date, seven mild

cases and one moderate case.

The field of developing hepatitis C treatments has grown more competitive,

prompting Wall Street to more closely watch side effect results for many drugs

in various stages of development. The field includes Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Inc., which is nearly done with late-stage development of telaprevir. Other

potential future products include Pharmasset Inc. and Roche's RG7128, InterMune

Inc. and Roche's ITMN-191, and Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s ACH-1625.