FW: [CARE-HepC] NATAP: Roche's New HCV Drug R1626-forwarded by Gail

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-----Original Message-----From: CARE-HepC [mailto:CARE-HepC ]On Behalf Of JuLev@...Sent: May 3, 2006 5:20 AMHEPC@...; CARE-HepC Subject: [CARE-HepC] NATAP: Roche's New HCV Drug R1626http://www.natap.orgRoche Releases Positive Study On New Hepatitis C DrugBASEL -(Dow )- Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG (RHHBY) Tuesday said its drug R1626 is effective against hepatitis C.R1626, one of a new class of hepatitis C therapies called polymerase inhibitors being developed by Roche has been shown to have a strong antiviral effect - the drug achieved significant reductions in viral load in chronic hepatitis C patients infected with the difficult to treat genotype 1 virus. The findings were announced Tuesday at the 41st Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver, EASL, in Vienna, Austria. Further trials are planned to study how well R1626 works in combination with Roche's current hepatitis drugs, Pegasys and Copegus."These early results give us a strong indication that the polymerase inhibitor R1626 is very effective in inhibiting viral replication," said Stuart , Director of Gastroenterology at Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Australia and lead investigator of the study. "Current therapies only cure about half of all patients infected with the most common and difficult-to-treat genotype 1 virus, so a product that could potentially improve cure rates, or be more tolerable, is much needed."NATAP REPORT:Interim results of a multiple ascending dose study of R1626, a novel nucleoside analogue targeting HCV polymerase, in chronic HCV patients- (05/02/06)