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| |  High Dose Consensus Interferon Clears Hep C In Majority Of Newly-Treated Patients PHILADELPHIA, PA -- Dec. 21, 1998 -- High dose consensus interferon eliminated hepatitis C virus in the majority of infected patients who had never been treated before, researchers report. In 73 percent of these patients, high dose consensus interferon given five times a week eliminated the virus, a response rate that is better than that achieved with Rebetron combination therapy and with less serious side effects. Many physicians now recognise that high doses of interferon given daily can lead to better results. "We have collected a lot of three month data, and even though the study is in its infancy, we're very excited," said Dr. Carl Jones, gastroenterology fellow at Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA. Dr. Jones discussed results of this ongoing study at the 49th annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), held in Chicago Nov. 6 to 10, 1998. "When you look only at patients with highly resistant virus types that are taking the drug three times a week, only 27 percent test negative for the virus, but of those taking the drug five times a week, 62-percent are negative by the end of month three,” he said. “The sustained response rates for patients with resistant virus types are very dismal, especially when using monotherapy with interferons. "Patients with more resistant disease typically show a sustained response rate of only five to 10 percent when they are treated with conventional interferon alpha (Intron A) dosing. Combination therapy (Intron A plus ribavirin) shows a little more promise, but even the best data show a 21-percent sustained response rate in these patients." In June, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved Schering-Plough's combination therapy (sold as Rebetron) for use in patients who had been treated with conventional interferon but had suffered a relapse. On Dec. 9, 1998 the FDA broadened its approval of Rebetron for use in previously untreated patients. A major side effect of combination therapy, attributable to the ribavirin in the combination, is hemolytic anemia. However, Dr. Jones says this side effect does not occur with high dose monotherapy using consensus interferon, sold as Infergen by Amgen. "You don't have to worry about the hemolytic profile, and it seems to be more tolerable. We were involved in the trial with combination therapy and we had a lot of dropouts due to hemolytic anemia and such side effects as flu-like symptoms," he said. "We're not seeing that with the higher doses of consensus interferon and it appears to be just as efficacious as combination therapy."
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