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Introduction: Simple predictive markers enabling even nonspecialized medical doctors and clinicopathological features of primary liver cancer (PLC) following HCV clearance with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) are unclear., Methods: The subjects of this retrospective study were 2,476 patients following HCV clearance with DAAs. All patients were confirmed to be PLC-free before and during DAAs., Results: PLC was diagnosed in 73 patients during the follow-up, with an incidence rate per 1 000 person-years of 5.9. The annual rate of PLC during the first 6 years was 0.6%. Multivariate analysis identified gender, GGT, and FIB-4 index as the significant determinants of PLC. According to a combination of these risk factors, the cumulative PLC incidence rates were significantly different among the five subgroups based on the number of PLC risk scores. In 73 patients with PLC, the rates of abnormal AFP, PIVKAII, and serum TERT C228T positive were 37.0, 32.4, and 22.2%. PIVKAII levels in BCLC stage A and B were significantly higher than those in stage 0. In 41 patients, who underwent surgical resection for PLC, maximum tumor diameters of abnormal PIVKAII were significantly larger than those of normal PIVKAII. PLC of abnormal PIVKAII significantly indicated presence of vp more than that of normal PIVKAII, and did not contain well-differentiated HCC., Conclusions: Combination of simple markers, enabling even nonspecialized medical doctors, is useful for the evaluation of PLC risk following HCV clearance with DAAs. However, imaging studies are regularly recommended for the early detection of PLC., (© 2022 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has the greatest health impact in patients with advanced liver disease. The direct-acting antiviral (DAA) regimen glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (G/P) is approved for treatment of HCV-infected patients without cirrhosis and with compensated cirrhosis. However, events of liver decompensation/failure have been reported in patients treated with protease-inhibitor-containing DAA regimens, often in patients with advanced liver disease. This study examines the safety of on-label G/P treatment in patients with compensated cirrhosis (F4 at baseline) with markers of advanced liver disease. Patients with cirrhosis were categorized into 4 subgroups, based on different noninvasive markers of advanced liver disease identified using laboratory measures: platelet count < or ≥ 100 × 10 9 /L, and Child-Pugh score 5 or 6. Separate analyses were performed using pooled data from clinical trials and from real-world post-marketing observational studies. G/P was well tolerated in patients with platelet count ≥100 × 10 9 /L (n = 800), platelet count <100 × 10 9 /L (n = 215), a Child-Pugh score of 5 (n = 915) and a Child-Pugh score of 6 (n = 95). In the clinical trial and real-world cohorts two patients and no patients experienced a serious adverse event (AE) possibly related to study drug, respectively; three patients and no patients experienced an AE of special interest for hepatic decompensation and hepatic failure. This analysis reaffirms G/P's safety profile in indicated patients with compensated cirrhosis, including those with markers of more advanced liver disease. Increasing the number of patients treated with short-duration G/P therapy may contribute to meeting HCV elimination targets., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Viral Hepatitis published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Accurate non-invasive prediction of long-term hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk in advanced liver fibrosis is urgently needed for cost-effective HCC screening; however, this currently remains an unmet need., Methods: A serum-protein-based prognostic liver secretome signature (PLSec) was bioinformatically derived from previously validated hepatic transcriptome signatures and optimized in 79 patients with advanced liver fibrosis. We independently validated PLSec for HCC risk in 331 cirrhosis patients with mixed etiologies (validation set 1 [V1]) and thereafter developed a score with clinical prognostic variables. The score was then validated in two independent cohorts: validation set 2 (V2): 164 patients with advanced liver fibrosis due to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection cured after direct-acting antiviral therapy; validation set 3 (V3): 146 patients with advanced liver fibrosis with successfully-treated HCC and cured HCV infection., Findings: An 8-protein blood-based PLSec recapitulated transcriptome-based hepatic HCC risk status. In V1, PLSec was significantly associated with incident HCC risk (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 2.35; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.30-4.23). A composite score with serum alpha-fetoprotein (PLSec-AFP) was defined in V1, and validated in V2 (adjusted odds ratio, 3.80 [95%CI, 1.66-8.66]) and V3 (aHR, 3.08 [95%CI, 1.78-5.31]; c-index, 0.74). PLSec-AFP outperformed AFP alone (Brier score, 0.165 vs. 0.186 in V2; 0.196 vs. 0.206 in V3, respectively)., Conclusions: The blood-based PLSec-AFP can accurately stratify patients with advanced liver fibrosis for long-term HCC risk and thereby guide risk-based tailored HCC screening., Competing Interests: DECLARATION OF INTERESTS Y.H. serves as an advisory board member for Helio Health and founding shareholder for Alentis Therapeutics, and received a research funding from Morphic Therapeutics. T.F.B. serves as advisor and is a founding shareholder or Alentis Therapeutics. R.T received a lecture fee from Bayer, Chugai, Eisai, Takeda and Wako/Fujifilm. N.P. has served as a consultant for Bristol Myers-Squibb, Exact Sciences, Eli Lilly, and Freenome. A.G.S. has served on advisory boards of Genentech, Eisai, Bayer, Exelixis, Wako/Fujifilm and has received research funding from Bayer, Target Pharmasolutions, Exact Sciences, and Glycotest.

Background: Even though both interferon (IFN)-based and direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapies against hepatitis C virus (HCV) reduce the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), post-sustained virological response (SVR) patients remain at elevated risk of HCC., Methods: A total of 4620 patients who achieved SVR were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study. After excluding patients who had a history of HCC or developed HCC within 1 year and whose follow-up period was less than 1 year and who were positive for HBsAg, we investigated the association between clinical characteristics and HCC development after SVR in the remaining 3771 patients., Results: Median observation period was 41 months. We confirmed known risk factors. In addition, we found that PNPLA3 and HLA-DQB1 polymorphisms were associated with HCC after SVR. Finally, we propose an estimation model for the incidence of HCC after SVR. Based on gender, FIB-4 index, AFP, and PNPLA3 polymorphism, about 18% of all patients were classified as having high risk, with a cumulative incidence rate (CIR) at 5 years of 16.5%. Another 17% were classified as having moderate risk with a CIR of 7.6%. The remaining 65% showed a CIR of 0.5%. The effect of PNPLA3 polymorphism might be more pronounced in patients with lower body mass index (BMI) and without diabetes mellitus compared to those with higher BMI and diabetes mellitus., Conclusions: We demonstrated that PNPLA3 and HLA-DQB1 polymorphisms were associated with HCC after SVR. These findings might be useful to inform risk stratification for HCC surveillance after SVR.

Glecaprevir (GLE)/pibrentasvir (PIB) 300 mg/120 mg once daily (Mavyret/Maviret) is an all-oral, pangenotypic, interferon- and ribavirin-free combination regimen approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The objective of the current analyses was to characterize the pharmacokinetics (PK) of GLE/PIB in HCV-infected Japanese patients. Data from 332 subjects enrolled in 2 Japan phase 3 trials, CERTAIN-1 and CERTAIN-2, were used in the analyses. Pharmacokinetics of GLE/PIB were characterized using a nonlinear mixed-effects modeling. The analyses evaluated the impact of covariates (concomitant medications and demographic and clinical covariates such as renal impairment, effect of cirrhotic status) on GLE/PIB PK. GLE and PIB PK were described by 1- and 2-compartment models, respectively. Presence of cirrhosis, age, and body weight were identified as significant covariates on GLE/PIB PK. A trend toward higher GLE and PIB exposures in older patients and higher PIB exposures in heavier patients was observed; however, these increases were not considered clinically meaningful. GLE and PIB exposures were higher in HCV-infected subjects with cirrhosis (Child-Pugh A; GLE area under the plasma concentration-time curve was 160% higher, and PIB area under the plasma concentration-time curve was 21% higher) compared to subjects without cirrhosis. Renal function (including subjects with end-stage renal disease with dialysis) had no impact on GLE or PIB exposures. The GLE/PIB dose was well tolerated in the Japanese population, and no dose adjustment is needed for the evaluated intrinsic and extrinsic factors., (© 2019, The American College of Clinical Pharmacology.)

Introduction: The objective of the study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir versus other direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for treating chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections in Japan., Methods: We developed a health state transition model to capture the natural history of HCV. A cost-effectiveness analysis of DAAs from the perspective of a public healthcare payer in Japan with a lifetime horizon over annual cycles was performed. Treatment attributes, baseline demographics, transition probabilities, health-state utilities, and costs data were extracted from publications. Costs and outcomes were discounted at 2% per annum. In the base case we focused on genotype 1 (GT1) treatment-naïve patients without cirrhosis. The scenario analysis examined a pan-genotype treatment in GT1-3 (i.e., portfolio), treatment-naïve, and treatment-experienced patients. The portfolio cost-effectiveness of DAAs was derived by calculating a weighted average of patient segments defined by treatment history, cirrhosis status, and genotype., Results: The base case results indicated that glecaprevir/pibrentasvir was dominant (i.e., generating higher quality-adjusted life years [QALYs] and lower lifetime costs) compared to all other DAAs. The predicted lifetime risk of hepatocellular carcinoma was 3.66% for glecaprevir/pibrentasvir and sofosbuvir/ledipasvir, 4.99% for elbasvir/grazoprevir, and 5.27% for daclatasvir/asunaprevir/beclabuvir. In scenario analysis the glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (GLE/PIB) portfolio dominated the sofosbuvir (SOF)-based portfolio (namely sofosbuvir/ledipasvir in GT1-2 and sofosbuvir + ribavirin in GT3). The base case probabilistic sensitivity analysis (PSA) showed that glecaprevir/pibrentasvir was cost-effective in 93.4% of the simulations for a willingness-to-pay/QALY range of Japanese yen (JPY) 1.6-20 million. The PSA for the portfolio scenario indicated that the GLE/PIB portfolio was cost-effective in 100% of simulations until the willingness-to-pay/QALY reached JPY 5.2 million; this proportion decreased to 69.4% at a willingness-to-pay/QALY of JPY 20 million. Results were also robust in deterministic sensitivity analyses., Conclusion: In GT1 treatment-naïve non-cirrhotic patients GLE/PIB was a cost-effective strategy compared to other DAAs. When a pan-genotypic framework was used, the GLE/PIB portfolio dominated the SOF-based portfolio.

Background: Glecaprevir and pibrentasvir (GLE/PIB) are potent antiviral agents for hepatitis C virus (HCV) pan-genotypic infections; however, their clinical effectiveness and safety remain limited in the real-world. This study aimed to evaluate viral responses and the safety of GLE/PIB for patients with chronic HCV-1/2/3 infections during both initial- (Arm A) and re-treatment (Arm B) with all-oral direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs)., Methods: This prospective-observational cohort study included Japanese patients with chronic HCV-1/2/3 infections (n = 271: 183 in Arm A and 83 in Arm B), who had started receiving GLE/PIB. Primary end point was a sustained virological response (SVR) rate at week 12 (SVR12) after the end of GLE/PIB treatment (EOT)., Results: SVR12 was achieved by 99.4% of patients (180/181: modified intention-to-treat (mITT) analysis excluding 2 patients lost to follow-up) in Arm A. One patient with an HCV-3b infection who discontinued at week 8 failed to achieve SVR12. SVR12 was achieved by 97.7% of patients (85/87: mITT excluding 1 patient lost to follow-up) in Arm B. Virological relapse occurred in 2 patients with HCV-1b, presenting common 5 loci of resistance-associated substitutions (RASs) including A92 RASs in the NS5A lesion at baseline. Any adverse events (AEs) (grade ≥ 3) occurred in 8 patients (3.0%). 8 patients (3.0%) discontinued due to AEs, however, all of them achieved SVR12., Conclusions: Initial and re-treatment with GLE/PIB are effective and safe for Japanese patients with HCV-1/2/3 in real-life settings. Further studies are required to elucidate the mechanism underlying treatment failures of GLE/PIB to completely eradicate HCV worldwide.

We experienced two cases of hepatitis C virus (HCV) eradication failure in patients with a history of non-responsiveness to previous treatments with direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) who were subsequently treated with the combination of glecaprevir and pibrentasvir (GLE/PIB). Direct sequencing at commencement of GLE/PIB therapy showed non-structural protein (NS) 5A-P32 deletion in the first patient and NS5A-R30E/Q54H/A92K in the second patient (both genotype 1b). The common point was that L31/Y93 was double wild-type, and the IL28B polymorphism was non-TT type. Even when L31/Y93 is double wild-type, other NS5A mutations may affect the DAA re-treatment outcome. We analyzed the transition of amino acid mutations at NS5A by ultra-deep sequencing.

Background and Aim: Estimates suggest that in Asia, more than 31 million individuals have hepatitis C virus infection. The present analysis was conducted to assess the efficacy and safety of elbasvir/grazoprevir in Asian participants enrolled in the elbasvir/grazoprevir phase 2/3 clinical trials., Methods: This is an integrated analysis of data from 12 international phase 2/3 clinical trials. Asian participants with chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1 or 4 infection who received elbasvir 50 mg/grazoprevir 100 mg once daily for 12 weeks or elbasvir/grazoprevir plus ribavirin for 16 weeks were included in this analysis. The primary end point was sustained virologic response at 12 weeks after completion of therapy (SVR12)., Results: Seven hundred eighty Asian participants from 15 countries were included in this analysis. SVR12 was achieved by 756/780 (96.9%) of all participants, including 748/772 (96.9%) of those who received elbasvir/grazoprevir for 12 weeks and 8/8 (100%) of those who received elbasvir/grazoprevir plus ribavirin for 16 weeks. In the genotype 1b-infected population, the SVR12 rate was 691/709 (97.5%), and there was no impact of age, high baseline viral load, or presence of cirrhosis. The most frequently reported adverse events were nasopharyngitis (8.0%), upper respiratory tract infection (5.4%), and diarrhea (5.2%). Twenty participants receiving elbasvir/grazoprevir for 12 weeks reported a total of 25 serious adverse events, and 7 (0.9%) discontinued treatment because of an adverse event., Conclusion: Elbasvir/grazoprevir administered for 12 weeks is an effective and generally well-tolerated treatment option for Asian individuals with hepatitis C virus genotype 1b infection., (© 2019 Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Background: Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with genotypes (GT) 1 and 2 accounts for over 50% of HCV infections globally, including over 97% of all HCV infections in Japan. Here, we report an integrated analysis of efficacy and safety of 8-week treatment with the all-oral, fixed-dose combination of the direct acting antivirals (DAA), glecaprevir and pibrentasvir (G/P), in DAA-naïve Japanese and overseas patients without cirrhosis and with HCV GT1 or GT2 infection., Methods: Data from 899 DAA-naïve patients without cirrhosis and with HCV GT1 or GT2 infection treated with G/P (300/120 mg) for 8 weeks in the six Phase 2 or 3 overseas or Japan-only clinical trials were included. All patients who received ≥ 1 dose of G/P were included in an intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis. The objectives were to evaluate rate of sustained virologic response 12 weeks post-treatment (SVR12) and safety of the 8-week regimen in the ITT population., Results: Overall, SVR12 was achieved by 98.9% (889/899) of DAA-naïve patients without cirrhosis, including 99.2% (597/602) of GT1-infected and 98.3% (292/297) of GT2-infected patients. Less than 1% (2/899) of patients overall and no Japanese patients experienced virologic failure. SVR12 rate was > 97% for patients regardless of baseline characteristics, and common comorbidities or co-medications. Overall, < 1% (2/899) discontinued G/P due to an adverse event (AE) and 1.6% (14/899) of patients experienced a serious AE., Conclusions: 8-week G/P treatment is safe and efficacious in DAA-naive patients without cirrhosis and with HCV GT1 or GT2 infection, demonstrating high SVR12 rates regardless of baseline patient and disease characteristics. CLINICALTRIALS., Gov Identifiers: The trials discussed in this paper were registered with ClinicalTrials.gov as follows: NCT02707952 (CERTAIN-1), NCT02723084 (CERTAIN-2), NCT02243280 (SURVEYOR-I), NCT02243293 (SURVEYOR-II), NCT02604017 (ENDURANCE-1), NCT02738138 (EXPEDITION-2).

Background: The virological efficacy and safety of the direct-acting antiviral (DAA) regimen consisting of daclatasvir, asunaprevir, and beclabuvir (DCV/ASV/BCV) for patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 have not been previously evaluated in Japanese real-world settings., Methods: In a Japanese nationwide multicenter study, the rate of sustained virologic response (SVR) and safety were analyzed in 91 patients who started the DCV/ASV/BCV regimen between November 2016 and July 2017. SVR rates were compared based on baseline patient characteristics., Results: More than 60% of patients had a history of failure to achieve SVR with interferon (IFN)-free DAA therapy. Overall, 50 of 91 patients (54.9%) achieved SVR. Multivariate analysis identified a history of failure with IFN-free DAA therapy and pretreatment HCV RNA levels as factors significantly associated with treatment failure. Whereas the SVR rate in patients without a history of IFN-free DAA therapy was 91.7% (33 of 36 patients), it was only 30.9% (17 of 55 patients) among patients with a history of IFN-free DAA therapy. The rate of discontinuation due to an adverse event was 4.4%., Conclusions: Many patients treated with the DCV/ASV/BCV regimen have a history of a failure to achieve SVR with previous IFN-free DAA therapy. SVR rate was not as high as that in pre-approval clinical trial of this regimen in IFN-free DAA-naïve patients. In addition, most patients with a history of failure with IFN-free DAA therapy, particularly the DCV/ASV regimen, showed resistance to this regimen.

Little is known about the effects of virus- and host-related factors on hepatocarcinogenesis in patients who show viral clearance after HCV RNA eradication by direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). The subjects of this retrospective study were 1,922 patients with HCV genotype 1 (HCV-1)- or HCV-2-related chronic liver disease who showed a sustained virological response (SVR; defined as negative results for HCV RNA at 12 weeks after the cessation of all-oral DAAs). All patients were confirmed to be hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) free before and during DAAs. HCC was diagnosed in 43 patients during the follow-up, with an incidence rate per 1,000 person years of 9.44. The cumulative HCC rates were 1.2, 2.0, and 3.1% at the end of 1, 2, and 3 years, respectively. The annual rate of HCC during the first 3 years was 1.0%. The incidence rate was significantly higher in patients infected with the HCV-1b core amino acid (aa) 70 mutant than in those infected with HCV-2a/2b, and the rate in patients infected with the HCV-1b core aa 70 wild type tended to be higher than that in patients infected with HCV-2a/2b. The rate in patients infected with the HCV-1b NS5A aa 93 mutant was significantly higher than that in patients infected with HCV-2a/2b. However, the rate was not different between patients infected with the IL28B rs8099917 TT genotype and patients infected with the non-TT genotype. Multivariate analysis identified a Wisteria floribunda agglutinin-positive Mac-2 binding protein (WFA + M2BP) cutoff index (COI) of ≥2.5 and infection with the HCV-1b core aa 70 mutant subgroup to be pretreatment predictors of posttreatment HCC. The same analysis identified an alpha-fetoprotein concentration of ≥5 μg/liter and an WFA + M2BP COI of ≥1.0 to be predictors of HCC at 24 weeks after the end of antiviral therapy. We conclude that both virus- and host-related factors seem to influence the development of HCC after HCV RNA eradication., (Copyright © 2019 American Society for Microbiology.)

In real-world settings, not much information is probably available on the treatment efficacy of the combination of glecaprevir and pibrentasvir (G/P) as a salvage therapy in failures of prior direct-acting antiviral (DAA) regimens. Especially, the evolution of NS5A resistance-associated variants (RAVs) and treatment efficacy in patients who received G/P for failures of prior treatment more than once is unknown. Twenty patients, who were exposed to glecaprevir 300 mg/d and pibrentasvir 120 mg/d for 12 weeks in failures of prior DAAs regimens were evaluated for sustained virological response at 12 weeks after the end of treatment (SVR12). The overall rate of SVR12 was 100%, based on intention-to-treat analysis. Five patients infected with genotype 1b, who received G/P for failures of prior treatment more than once, were analyzed for the evolution of RAVs in NS5A region. All of the five patients exhibited SVR12, regardless of the numbers of times of prior treatment (more than once), prior treatment response (nonresponse), and fibrosis stage (FIB-4 index ≥ 3.25). At the commencement of G/P, all five patients were detected with NS5A RAVs at the position of aa 93. Four patients, except for one, were detected with RAVs at both positions of aa 31 and aa 93 (double mutation). All patients could achieve SVR12 with G/P, regardless of the emergence of NS5A RAVs, accompanied by failure to prior NS5A regimens more than once. In conclusion, our study indicated that G/P was a potentially useful salvage treatment for patients who failed prior DAAs regimens more than once., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: In the UNITY-3 study, 96% sustained virologic response (SVR12) rate was observed in Japanese patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype (GT)-1 infection treated for 12 weeks with fixed-dose daclatasvir, asunaprevir, and beclabuvir (DCV-TRIO). As HCV clearance may improve liver outcomes, we assessed hepatic fibrosis and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a hepatocellular carcinoma risk marker, pre- and post-treatment in UNITY-3., Methods: Treatment-naive or interferon-experienced UNITY-3 patients with HCV GT-1 who received twice-daily DCV-TRIO were assessed for fibrosis [FibroTest; FibroScan; fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4), aspartate-aminotransferase-to-platelet-ratio index] and AFP at baseline and Weeks 4 (FIB-4 only), 12 or 24 post-treatment., Results: Of 217 patients, 99% had GT-1b infection, 46% were aged > 65 years, 21% had compensated cirrhosis, and 26% baseline HCV-RNA > 10 7  IU/mL. All GT-1b patients treated ≥ 4 weeks achieved SVR12 with (n = 54) or without (n = 144) baseline NS5A polymorphisms associated with DCV resistance (positions 28/30/31/93). Statistically significant post-treatment reductions from baseline were observed for all fibrosis measures and AFP, with numerically greater reductions in cirrhotic patients. FibroTest category improved in 44%, remained stable in 50%, and worsened in 6% of patients; 98% with baseline AFP < 6 μg/L remained < 6 μg/L and 51% with baseline AFP ≥ 6 μg/L were < 6 μg/L post-treatment., Conclusions: DCV-TRIO administered for 12 weeks to Japanese patients with primarily GT-1b infection achieved a high SVR12 rate and resulted in improved measures of hepatic fibrosis and serum AFP that may reduce the risk of future liver disease progression and hepatocellular carcinoma, particularly in those with compensated cirrhosis.

We report the case of a 75-year-old woman who was found to have hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in 1987. Before treatment in 2016, she was found to have mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC). Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment produced a sustained virological response 12 (SVR12). She noticed gradual muscle weakness in 2015 and the gradual development of dysarthria and dysphagia in 2017. We performed a muscle biopsy that showed inclusion body myositis (IBM). To the best of our knowledge, this is first case of a patient with HCV infection, MC, and IBM, in which MC and IBM did not improve after an SVR12 was obtained by DAA treatment.

Impact of substitution of aa70 in the core region (Core aa70) in HCV genotype 1b (HCV-1b) on hepatocarcinogenesis following eradication of HCV RNA by direct-acting antiviral therapy is not clear. In a retrospective study, 533 patients with HCV-related chronic liver disease, with sustained virological response defined as negative HCV RNA at 12 weeks after cessation of direct-acting antiviral therapy, were examined to evaluate the relationship between Core aa70 substitution and hepatocarcinogenesis. Twelve patients developed hepatocellular carcinoma during the follow-up period. The cumulative hepatocarcinogenesis rates were 1.7% and 2.4% at the end of 1 and 2 years, respectively. Overall, multivariate analysis identified HCV subgroup (HCV-1b with Gln70(His70); P = 0.003) and age (>65 years; P = 0.049), as pretreatment predictors of hepatocarcinogenesis. In HCV-1b patients, multivariate analysis identified post-treatment Wisteria floribunda agglutinin positive Mac-2 binding protein (>1.8 COI; P = 0.042) and HCV subgroup (HCV-1b with Gln70(His70); P = 0.071), as predictors of hepatocarcinogenesis, including post-treatment parameter. In conclusion, Core aa70 substitution in HCV-1b at the start of direct-acting antiviral therapy is an important predictor of hepatocarcinogenesis following eradication of HCV RNA. This study emphasizes the importance of detection of Core aa70 substitution before initiating antiviral therapy., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background & Aims: Daclatasvir has achieved high sustained virologic response (SVR) rates in diverse hepatitis C virus (HCV) populations. This study evaluated the long-term efficacy and safety of daclatasvir-based regimens administered during clinical studies., Methods: Patients enrolled within 6 months of parent study completion or protocol availability at the study sites. The primary objective was durability of SVR at follow-up Week 12 (SVR12). Secondary objectives included analysing HCV sequences in non-responders or responders who relapsed, and characterization of liver disease progression., Results: Between 24 February 2012 and 17 July 2015, this study enrolled and began following 1503 recipients of daclatasvir-based regimens (follow-up cut-off, 13 October 2015); 60% were male, 18% aged ≥65 years, 87% had genotype-1a (42%) or -1b (45%) infection, and 18% had cirrhosis. Median follow-up from parent study follow-up Week 12 was 111 (range, 11-246) weeks. 1329/1489 evaluable patients were SVR12 responders; 1316/1329 maintained SVR until their latest visit. Twelve responders relapsed by (n = 9) or after (n = 3) parent study follow-up Week 24; one was reinfected. Relapse occurred in 3/842 (0.4%) and 9/487 (2%) responders treated with interferon-free or interferon-containing regimens, respectively. Hepatic disease progression and new hepatocellular carcinoma were diagnosed in 15 and 23 patients, respectively. Among non-responders, emergent non-structural protein-5A (NS5A) and -3 (NS3) substitutions were replaced by wild-type sequences in 27/157 (17%) and 35/47 (74%) patients, respectively., Conclusions: SVR12 was durable in 99% of recipients of daclatasvir-based regimens. Hepatic disease progression and new hepatocellular carcinoma were infrequent. Emergent NS5A substitutions persisted longer than NS3 substitutions among non-responders., (© 2017 The Authors. Liver International Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

While the combination therapy of ribavirin (RBV) and sofosbuvir (SOF) is effective in genotype 2 HCV infection, the predictors of treatment efficacy and posttreatment changes in α-fetoprotein (AFP) and liver stiffness (markers of hepatocellular carcinoma), remain unclear. In this study, 302 patients with chronic HCV genotype 2 infection were treated with SOF (400 mg) plus RBV (400-1000 mg; based on body weight) for 12 weeks. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of treatment, as well as measured serum AFP, liver stiffness, and controlled attenuation parameter (CAP, a surrogate marker of steatosis) at baseline and within 48 weeks of treatment completion. The intention-to-treat analysis showed a sustained virological response (SVR) rate of 95.7%. None of the patients discontinued treatment due to side effects. Multivariate analysis identified pretreatment (no treatment with interferon), level of AFP (AFP; <10 μg/L), and RBV/body weight (BW) ratio (≥9.0 mg/kg) as independent predictors of SVR. The SVR rate in patients with two predictors of poor response (AFP ≥10 μg/L and RBV/BW ratio <9.0 mg/kg) was significantly lower than in other patients. In the SVR group, posttreatment AFP level and liver stiffness were significantly lower than at baseline. CAP tended to be higher after treatment than at baseline in all patients. SOF plus RBV combination therapy achieved a high SVR rate and was safe in HCV genotype 2 infected patients. Treatment reduced AFP levels and improved liver stiffness, but increased CAP., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Genotype 1b (GT1b) is the most common subtype of the hepatitis C virus (HCV). We present an integrated analysis of 1070 participants with HCV GT1b infection from 30 countries who received elbasvir/grazoprevir for 12 weeks., Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of data from participants with chronic HCV GT1b infection enrolled in 11 phase II/III clinical trials. All participants received elbasvir 50 mg plus grazoprevir 100 mg once daily for 12 weeks. The primary end point of all studies was sustained virologic response 12 weeks after completion of therapy (SVR12, HCV RNA < 15 IU/ml)., Results: SVR12 was 97.2% (1040/1070). Of the 30 participants who failed to attain SVR12, 15 relapsed and 15 had nonvirologic failure. Among participant subgroups, SVR12 was high in those with compensated cirrhosis (188/189, 99.5%), HIV co-infection (51/54, 94.4%), and baseline viral load > 800,000 IU/ml (705/728, 96.8%). Resistance-associated substitutions (RASs) at NS5A positions 28, 30, 31, or 93 were present in 21.6% of participants at baseline. SVR12 was 99.6% (820/823) in participants without baseline NS5A RASs and 94.7% (215/227) in those with baseline NS5A RASs. Serious adverse events occurred in 3.2% (34/1070) of participants, nine of which occurred after study medication was completed., Conclusions: Elbasvir/grazoprevir for 12 weeks represents an effective treatment option for participants with HCV GT1b infection. SVR12 was high in all participant subgroups, including those with compensated cirrhosis, HIV co-infection, and high baseline viral load. CLINICALTRIALS., Gov Identifiers: The trials discussed in this paper were registered with Clinicaltrial.gov as the following: NCT02092350 (C-SURFER), NCT02105662 (C-EDGE Co-Infection), NCT02105467 (C-EDGE treatment-naive), NCT02105701 (C-EDGE treatment-experienced), NCT01717326 (C-WORTHy), NCT02251990 (C-CORAL), NCT02105688 (C-EDGE COSTAR), NCT02252016 (C-EDGE IBLD), NCT02115321 (C-SALT), NCT02203149 (Japan phase 2/3 study), NCT02358044 (C-EDGE Head-2-Head).

Background: The once-daily, all oral, RBV-free, pangenotypic direct-acting anti-viral regimen consisting of co-formulated NS3/4A protease inhibitor glecaprevir and NS5A inhibitor pibrentasvir (G/P), demonstrated high rates of sustained virologic response (SVR) in phase 2 and 3 studies outside Japan., Methods: CERTAIN-1 is a phase 3, open-label, multicenter study assessing the safety and efficacy of G/P (300/120 mg) once daily in Japanese patients with chronic HCV GT1 infection. Patients without cirrhosis received 8 weeks of G/P or 12 weeks of ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir (OBV/PTV/r, 25/150/100 mg); patients with cirrhosis received G/P for 12 weeks. The primary efficacy endpoint was non-inferiority of G/P compared to OBV/PTV/r by assessing SVR at post-treatment week 12 (SVR12) among non-cirrhotic patients without the NS5A Y93H polymorphism., Results: SVR12 was achieved by 128/129 (99.2%; one patient lost to follow-up) non-cirrhotic patients in the 8-week G/P Arm (including 23/23 patients with the NS5A Y93H polymorphism) and 52/52 (100%) patients in the 12-week OBV/PTV/r Arm. No patients from the G/P Arm prematurely discontinued the study drug or experienced a treatment-emergent serious adverse event (TESAE). Three patients from the OBV/PTV/r Arm experienced five TESAEs and one of these patients discontinued the study drug due to TESAEs. All 38 (100%) patients with compensated cirrhosis achieved SVR12; in this group, no TESAEs were reported and one patient discontinued treatment due to an AE., Conclusions: CERTAIN-1 study results demonstrate high efficacy and favorable tolerability of G/P in GT1-infected Japanese patients including those with the NS5A Y93H polymorphism, with no virologic failures observed.

Background: Once-daily, orally administered, co-formulated glecaprevir (NS3/4A protease inhibitor) and pibrentasvir (NS5A inhibitor) (G/P) demonstrated pangenotypic activity and high sustained virologic response (SVR) rates in studies outside Japan. Here we report safety and efficacy in a subset of Japanese patients with chronic HCV infection who received G/P 300/120 mg in a phase 3, open-label, multicenter study (CERTAIN-1)., Methods: This analysis focuses on three difficult-to-treat subgroups: HCV GT1/2-infected patients who failed to achieve SVR after treatment with a direct acting antiviral (DAA)-containing regimen; GT1/2-infected patients with severe renal impairment (estimated glomerular filtration rate < 30 mL/min/1.73 m 2 ); and GT3-infected patients. Patients in the renal impairment and GT3 cohorts were treatment-naive or interferon treatment-experienced. Noncirrhotic GT1/2-infected, DAA-naïve patients in the renal impairment cohort received G/P for 8 weeks; all other patients were treated for 12 weeks. Primary outcome was SVR (HCV RNA < 15 IU/mL) 12 weeks post-treatment (SVR 12 )., Results: The study enrolled 33 GT1/2-infected patients who failed previous DAA treatment (four with cirrhosis); 12 GT1/2-infected patients with severe renal impairment (two with cirrhosis); and 12 GT3-infected patients (two with cirrhosis). SVR 12 was achieved by 31/33 (93.9%), 12/12 (100%), and 10/12 (83.3%) patients, respectively. One serious adverse event (fluid overload, not related to G/P) occurred in a patient on chronic intermittent hemodialysis., Conclusions: G/P achieved high SVR 12 rates and was well tolerated in three difficult-to-treat patient subgroups with limited treatment options in Japan (DAA-experienced patients, patients with severe renal impairment, and GT3-infected patients). These results support the potential suitability of this regimen for these special populations in Japan.

Little information is available on the impact of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy on changes in liver fibrosis and steatosis. Liver stiffness (LS) and controlled attenuation parameter (CAP) values were evaluated using transient elastography. The study subjects were 214 elderly patients infected with HCV genotype 1b who received 24-week daclatasvir and asunaprevir dual therapy. All patients of this retrospective study had no hepatocellular carcinoma before and during DAA therapy. LS and CAP were assessed before treatment (baseline), at end of treatment (EOT), and at 24, 48, 72 weeks (W) after EOT. The rate of sustained viral response (SVR) by daclatasvir and asunaprevir therapy was 91%. LS values for the entire group correlated with Fib-4 index at baseline (r = 0.565, P < 0.001). LS in both chronic hepatitis group (Fib-4 index <3.25) and cirrhosis group (Fib-4 index ≥3.25) decreased significantly at each time point compared with baseline (P < 0.001). Especially, a larger decrease in LS from baseline to EOT was seen in the cirrhosis group than chronic hepatitis group (P < 0.001). LS was also significantly lower in the SVR group at EOT, 24W, 48W, 72W compared with baseline (P < 0.001). Even in the non-SVR group, LS tended to be lower at EOT (P = 0.039), 24W (P = 0.009), 48W (P = 0.475), 72W (P = 0.033) compared with baseline. CAP increased significantly following the treatment from baseline to 48W post-EOT (P = 0.018). Our results showed significant improvement in LS in response to daclatasvir and asunaprevir dual therapy. In the other hand, there was a tendency that CAP increased from baseline., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Glecaprevir (nonstructural protein 3/4A protease inhibitor) and pibrentasvir (nonstructural protein 5A inhibitor) (G/P), a coformulated once-daily, all oral, ribavirin (RBV)-free, direct-acting antiviral regimen, was evaluated for safety and efficacy in hepatitis C virus genotype 2 (GT2)-infected Japanese patients, including those with compensated cirrhosis. CERTAIN-2 is a phase 3, open-label, multicenter study assessing the safety and efficacy of G/P (300/120 mg) once daily in treatment-naive and interferon ± RBV treatment-experienced Japanese patients without cirrhosis but with GT2 infection. Patients were randomized 2:1 to receive 8 weeks of G/P (arm A) or 12 weeks of sofosbuvir (400 mg once daily) + RBV (600-1000 mg weight-based, twice daily) (arm B). The primary endpoint was noninferiority of G/P compared to sofosbuvir + RBV by assessing sustained virologic response at posttreatment week 12 (SVR12) among patients in the intent-to-treat population. SVR12 was also assessed in treatment-naive and interferon ± RBV treatment-experienced patients with GT2 infection and compensated cirrhosis who received G/P for 12 weeks in the CERTAIN-1 study. A total of 136 patients were enrolled in CERTAIN-2. SVR12 was achieved by 88/90 (97.8%) patients in arm A and 43/46 (93.5%) patients in arm B. No patient in arm A experienced virologic failure, while 2 did in arm B. The primary endpoint was achieved. In CERTAIN-1, 100% (18/18) of GT2-infected patients with compensated cirrhosis achieved SVR12. Treatment-emergent serious adverse events were experienced by 2 patients without cirrhosis in each arm and no patient with cirrhosis. Conclusion: The results demonstrate high efficacy and favorable tolerability of G/P in GT2-infected Japanese patients. (Hepatology 2018;67:505-513)., (© 2017 The Authors. Hepatology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.)

Glecaprevir and pibrentasvir are hepatitis C virus (HCV) pangenotypic inhibitors targeting NS3/4A protease and NS5A, respectively. This once-daily, fixed-dose combination regimen demonstrated high sustained virologic response 12 weeks postdosing (SVR 12 ) rates in CERTAIN-1 and CERTAIN-2 studies in Japanese HCV-infected patients, with a low virologic failure rate (1.2%). There were no virologic failures among direct-acting antiviral (DAA)-treatment-naive genotype 1a (GT1a) ( n = 4)-, GT1b ( n = 128)-, and GT2 ( n = 97)-infected noncirrhotic patients treated for 8 weeks or among GT1b ( n = 38)- or GT2 ( n = 20)-infected patients with compensated cirrhosis treated for 12 weeks. Two of 33 DAA-experienced and 2 of 12 GT3-infected patients treated for 12 weeks experienced virologic failure. Pooled resistance analysis, grouped by HCV subtype, treatment duration, prior treatment experience, and cirrhosis status, was conducted. Among DAA-naive GT1b-infected patients, the baseline prevalence of NS3-D168E was 1.2%, that of NS5A-L31M was 3.6%, and that of NS5A-Y93H was 17.6%. Baseline polymorphisms in NS3 or NS5A were less prevalent in GT2, with the exception of the common L/M31 polymorphism in NS5A. Among DAA-experienced GT1b-infected patients (30/32 daclatasvir plus asunaprevir-experienced patients), the baseline prevalence of NS3-D168E/T/V was 48.4%, that of NS5A-L31F/I/M/V was 81.3%, that of the NS5A P32deletion was 6.3%, and that of NS5A-Y93H was 59.4%. Common baseline polymorphisms in NS3 and/or NS5A had no impact on treatment outcomes in GT1- and GT2-infected patients; the impact on GT3-infected patients could not be assessed due to the enrollment of patients infected with diverse subtypes and the limited number of patients. The glecaprevir-pibrentasvir combination regimen allows a simplified treatment option without the need for HCV subtyping or baseline resistance testing for DAA-naive GT1- or GT2-infected patients. (The CERTAIN-1 and CERTAIN-2 studies have been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under identifiers NCT02707952 and NCT02723084, respectively.)., (Copyright © 2018 Krishnan et al.)

Treatment of HCV genotype (GT) 2-infected Japanese patients with paritaprevir (NS3/4A inhibitor boosted with ritonavir) and ombitasvir (NS5A inhibitor) without ribavirin for 12 weeks in the phase 2 study M12-536, and with ribavirin for 16 weeks in phase 3 study GIFT II resulted in SVR rates of 72.2% to 91.5%. Overall, 11 out of 125 patients with GT2a and 37 out of 79 patients with GT2b infection experienced virologic failure. The prevalence of baseline polymorphisms in NS3 and NS5A and their the impact on treatment outcome, as well as the development of viral resistance in GT2-infected patients experiencing virologic failure were evaluated by HCV NS3 and NS5A population and clonal sequence analyses. Baseline polymorphisms in NS3 that confer resistance to paritaprevir were rare in both GT2a- and GT2b-infected patients, while baseline polymorphisms in NS5A that confer resistance to ombitasvir were detected in 11.2% and 14.1% of the GT2a- and GT2b-infected patients, respectively. There was no significant impact of baseline polymorphisms on treatment outcome in Japanese patients. The most common treatment-emergent substitutions at the time of virologic failure occurred at amino acid positions 168 in NS3 and 28 in NS5A in both GT2a- and GT2b-infected patients. Although there was a higher rate of virologic failure in patients with GT2b infection, the resistance analyses presented in this report support the conclusion that testing for baseline resistance-associated polymorphisms is not warranted for HCV GT2-infected patients treated with a regimen of ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir + ribavirin for 16 weeks., (© 2017 The Authors. Journal of Medical Virology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background & Aims: It is important to investigate the treatment outcomes in patients excluded from clinical trials (CTR). The aims of this study were to evaluate the efficacy and safety of a 24-week daclatasvir (DCV) and asunaprevir (ASV) therapy for patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV)-1b infection., Methods: A total of 651 HCV-1b patients started dual oral therapy with DCV and ASV for 24 weeks in Toranomon Hospital, Tokyo. Among them, 276 patients met phase III CTR inclusion criteria. The sustained virological response (SVR) rate after treatment and the adverse events during therapy were compared between CTR-met (patients who met the inclusion criteria) and CTR-unmet (patients who did not meet the inclusion criteria) groups., Results: SVR12 was achieved in 87.0% (240/276) and 86.7% (325/375) in CTR-met and CTR-unmet patients respectively. SVR12 rate in simeprevir-experienced patients was 52.9% (9/17). SVR12 rate in patients without resistance-associated variant (RAV) of NS3 or NS5A loci was 93.7% (416/444). However, the SVR12 rates in patients with NS3-D168, NS5A-L31 and Y93 single RAV at baseline were 55.0% (11/20), 73.9% (17/23) and 65.6% (63/96) respectively. The safety profiles in both CTR-met and CTR-unmet patients were similar. The discontinuation rate as a result of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevation was only 2.9%. Seven (2.5%) patients in CTR-met group and 20 (5.3%) in CTR-unmet group discontinued therapy because of adverse events other than the ALT elevation., Conclusions: Dual oral therapy with DCV and ASV in real-life settings was well tolerated with a similar safety profile and achieved similar SVR12 rates as that of CTR., (© 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

There is little information on retreatment efficacy and predictors of the combination of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir) for patients who fail to respond to NS5A inhibitors. NS5A resistance variants are known to persist for long periods after such treatment. Here, we evaluated 54 patients with chronic HCV genotype 1b infection, free of decompensated cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma, for sustained virological response after 12 weeks (SVR12) of once-daily treatment with 90 mg ledipasvir and 400 mg sofosbuvir. Intention-to-treat analysis showed SVR12 of 70%. Using ultra-deep sequencing, non-responder to ledipasvir/sofosbuvir showed no change in the rates of detection of NS5A and NS5B resistant-variants at re-elevation of viral loads, relative to baseline. According to response to prior treatment, SVR12 rates were 18, 69, 94, and 100% in non response, viral breakthrough, relapse, and discontinuation due to adverse events, respectively. SVR12 rates in non response were significantly lower than those of the others. Multivariate analysis identified response to previous treatment (failure except for non response) and FIB4 index (<3.25) as significant determinants of SVR12. The SVR12 rates were significantly lower in patients with FIB4 index of ≥3.25 and had not responded to prior treatment, relative to others. The specificity, and positive- and negative-predictive values were high for prediction of poor response based on the combination of two predictors. In conclusion, our study indicated that ledipasvir/sofosbuvir is a potentially useful salvage treatment for patients who fail prior NS5A inhibitors-based therapy. Response to prior treatment was an important predictor of retreatment efficacy., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Elbasvir (EBR) in combination with grazoprevir (GZR) has demonstrated efficacy in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections in trials primarily conducted in the USA and Europe. We investigated the safety and efficacy of EBR in combination with GZR in Japanese patients with chronic HCV infection, with or without cirrhosis., Methods: The study was conducted in two parts. In part 1, noncirrhotic patients were randomized 1:1 to receive EBR (50 mg) in combination with GZR (50 or 100 mg) once daily for 12 weeks. In part 2, noncirrhotic patients were randomized 3:1 to receive immediate or deferred treatment with EBR (50 mg) and GZR (100 mg, determined in part 1) for 12 weeks; cirrhotic patients received open-label immediate treatment. The primary efficacy end point was the rate of sustained virologic response 12 weeks after completion of the study treatment., Results: In part 1, 63 patients were randomized to receive EBR in combination with GZR at a dose of 50 mg (n = 31) or 100 mg (n = 32). The SVR12 rates were 100% with GZR at a dose of 50 mg and 96.8% with GZR at a dose of 100 mg. Tolerability was similar in both arms. In part 2, 301 noncirrhotic patients were randomized to receive immediate treatment (n = 227) or deferred treatment (n = 74), and 35 cirrhotic patients were enrolled. The SVR12 rates were 96.5% and 97.1% after immediate treatment in noncirrhotic and cirrhotic patients respectively. Safety was generally similar between immediate and deferred treatment., Conclusion: Treatment with EBR in combination with GZR for 12 weeks is effective and well tolerated in Japanese patients with chronic HCV infection. CLINICALTRIALS., Gov Identifier: NCT02203149.

The aim of this study was to assess the rate of development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients who achieved sustained virologic response (SVR) by direct antiviral agents (DAA). We retrospectively evaluated patients who achieved SVR by oral DAA interferon-free regimens (n = 77) (daclatasvir/asunaprevir [n = 67], ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir [n = 9], and telaprevir [n = 1]) and by pegylated-interferon plus ribavirin (Peg-IFN/RBV, n = 528). In all patients, the background was chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis caused by HCV genotype 1b. During a median follow-up period of 4.0 years, two (2.6%) of DAA-treated patients developed HCC. The 3- and 5-year cumulative HCC development rates were 1.30% and 3.03%, respectively, in the DAA group, and 1.02% and 2.19 % in the Peg-IFN/RBV group (P not significant). In patients with Fib-4 score of >3.25, the 3-year HCC development rates were 4.35% and 3.95%, whereas those of the 5 year were 9.66% and 8.37%, in the DAA and Peg-IFN/RBV group, respectively. In patients with Fib-4 score of ≤3.25, none of the DAA group developed HCC, whereas 0.48% at 3-year and 1.05% at 5-year of patients of the Peg-IFN/RBV group did. Propensity score analysis using the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTW) also showed no significant difference in HCC development rate between the two groups. Serum AFP gradually and similarly decreased after initiation of antiviral therapy in both groups. Our data indicate that the HCC risk rate after SVR is similar regardless of whether the latter was achieved by DAA or IFN-based regimens. J. Med. Virol. 89:476-483, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: DCV-TRIO, a fixed-dose combination of daclatasvir (pangenotypic NS5A inhibitor), asunaprevir (NS3/4A protease inhibitor), and beclabuvir (non-nucleoside NS5B inhibitor), has achieved high rates of sustained virologic response at post-treatment Week 12 (SVR12) in phase 3 studies., Methods: In this phase 3 study, DCV-TRIO for 12 weeks and daclatasvir plus asunaprevir (DUAL) for 24 weeks were studied in Japanese patients infected with HCV genotype 1 (99 % genotype 1b)., Results: SVR12 rates ≥95 % were achieved in both treatment-naive (N = 152) and interferon-experienced (N = 65) cohorts treated with DCV-TRIO for 12 weeks and were comparable across patient subgroups, including patients aged ≥65 years and those with cirrhosis. DUAL recipients (N = 75) had an SVR12 rate of 87 %. In the absence of baseline resistance-associated polymorphisms at positions NS5A-Y93H or -L31, SVR12 rates were 98 % with DCV-TRIO or DUAL. Among genotype 1b-infected patients with baseline Y93H or L31 polymorphisms, 35/38 (92 %) DCV-TRIO recipients, and 7/16 (44 %) DUAL recipients achieved SVR12. Adverse events, mostly liver related, led to treatment discontinuation in 10 % of DCV-TRIO recipients. In this group, SVR12 was achieved by 3/9 patients who discontinued before Week 4 and by 12/12 patients who completed ≥4 weeks of DCV-TRIO. Treatment-related serious adverse events occurred in 4 and 3 % of DCV-TRIO and DUAL recipients, respectively. Seven patients (9 %) discontinued DUAL due to adverse events. No deaths occurred., Conclusion: SVR12 was achieved by 96 % of Japanese patients with HCV genotype 1 infection after 12 weeks of treatment with the DCV-TRIO regimen. DCV-TRIO and DUAL exhibited comparable safety profiles.

Predictors of treatment efficacy with ledipasvir plus sofosbuvir as direct-acting antiviral (DAA) regimen for HCV infection are still unclear. Retreatment efficacy of ledipasvir plus sofosbuvir for failures to prior DAA regimens, including NS5A inhibitors, are also unknown because resistance-associated variants (RAVs) in NS5A have been shown to persist up to the long-term of post-treatment. One hundred seventy-five patients with chronic HCV genotype 1 infection, without decompensated liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, were evaluated SVR12 by ledipasvir 90 mg plus sofosbuvir 400 mg once-daily for 12 weeks. Overall, SVR12 were 92%, based on intention to treat analysis. In failures to daclatasvir plus asunaprevir, SVR12 were 71%. The study using ultra-deep sequencing showed that ledipasvir plus sofosbuvir was effective to one case of failures to daclatasvir plus asunaprevir with multidrug RAVs (triple mutation in NS3-D168/NS5A-L31/NS5A-Y93). Multivariate analysis identified FIB4 index (<3.25), IL28B rs8099917 (TT type), and NS5A-L31 (Wild type) as significant determinants of SVR12. SVR12 rates in patients with three factors of poor response (RAVs Positive, IL28B non-TT, and FIB4 index ≥3.25) simultaneously were significantly lower than those of the other patients. Prediction of response to therapy based on combination of three predictors had high sensitivity and positive predictive values. In conclusions, this study indicated the favorable efficacy of ledipasvir plus sofosbuvir for HCV genotype 1 infection, including multidrug RAVs in Japan. Treatment efficacy could be predicted by the combination of viral and host factors. J. Med. Virol. 89:284-290, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The combination of daclatasvir and asunaprevir is efficacious in the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, but its efficacy and predictors of efficacy in the elderly (≥70 years) remain unclear. In this study, 844 patients with chronic HCV genotype 1b infection, were treated with daclatasvir (60 mg once daily) plus asunaprevir (100 mg twice daily) for 24 weeks. Using the intention-to-treat analysis, the sustained virological response (SVR) rates were 87% and 88% for all 844 patients and 411 elderly (>70 years of age), respectively. In both groups, multivariate analysis identified NS5A-Y93H mutation (<20%), pretreatment (failure of treatment except for triple therapy with simeprevir, or treatment naive), and level of viremia (<6.0 log IU/ml) as independent predictors of SVR. Direct sequencing showed a significantly higher rate of NS3-D168 mutation at baseline in non-responders to triple therapy with simeprevir (44%) than others (2%). Alfa-fetoprotein (AFP) level and liver stiffness were significantly lower after end of treatment than at baseline, in both the SVR and non-SVR groups. In conclusion, daclatasvir-asunaprevir combination achieved high SVR in HCV genotype 1b patients, including elderly patients. Viral factors negatively influenced the response to treatment. Treatment improved AFP level and liver stiffness (surrogate markers of hepatocellular carcinoma), regardless of treatment efficacy. J. Med. Virol. 89:91-98, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objectives: There is little information on the risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and outcome of treatment with an all-oral combination of direct-acting antiviral regimens following eradication of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA., Methods: The study subjects were 1,170 patients with HCV genotype 1-related chronic liver disease treated with either NS5A inhibitor plus NS3/4A protease inhibitor (n = 707), NS5A inhibitor plus NS5B polymerase inhibitor (n = 345), or NS5A inhibitor, NS3/4A protease inhibitor plus ritonavir (n = 118), for 12-24 weeks. All patients were free of HCC before and during therapy., Results: In this retrospective study, 22 patients developed HCC during the follow-up (time from the end of antiviral therapy until the last visit: 1.3 years). At 1 and 2 years after completion of the treatment, the cumulative HCC rates for the whole group were 1.8 and 2.3%, respectively, and 1.4 and 1.8%, respectively, for 1,065 patients who showed sustained virological response (SVR). The risk factors for HCC identified by multivariate analysis were hypoalbuminemia, thrombocytopenia, a high α-fetoprotein level, and non-SVR for all patients, and hypoalbuminemia and a high α-fetoprotein level for patients with SVR., Conclusion: Eradication of HCV RNA by direct-acting antiviral regimens might reduce the risk of HCC. Albumin and α-fetoprotein levels are significant risk factors for HCC., (© 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

The study objective was to compare the efficacy and safety of peginterferon lambda-1a combined with ribavirin/daclatasvir (Lambda/RBV/DCV), versus peginterferon alfa-2a combined with ribavirin/telaprevir (Alfa/RBV/TVR), in patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), genotype 1b. This was a prospective, randomized, open-label, phase 3 study (NCT01718158) in adults (aged ≥18 years) who were treatment naïve or prior relapsers to peginterferon alfa/ribavirin therapy. The primary endpoint was sustained virologic response at post-treatment follow-up week 12 (SVR12). Patients were randomized in a 2:1 ratio to receive 24 weeks of Lambda/RBV/DCV or response-guided 24 or 48 weeks of Alfa/RBV/TVR. Overall, 440 patients were treated (294 with Lambda/RBV/DCV; 146 with Alfa/RBV/TVR). The proportion of patients achieving SVR12 was 88.8% in the Lambda/RBV/DCV arm and 70.5% in the Alfa/RBV/TVR arm (difference between arms: 18.3%; 95% confidence interval: 9.9-25.7; P < 0.0001). Patients in the Lambda/RBV/DCV group had fewer rash-related adverse events (AEs), cytopenic abnormalities, flu-like symptoms, serious AEs, and discontinuations due to AEs, but more liver abnormalities than those in the Alfa/RBV/TVR group. In conclusion, treatment with Lambda/RBV/DCV led to higher SVR12 rates and a more favorable safety profile than Alfa/RBV/TVR in patients with chronic HCV, genotype 1b infection.

Background and Aim: Vaniprevir is a macrocyclic hepatitis C virus (HCV) non-structural (NS)3/4A protease inhibitor. The objective of these phase 3 multicenter, open-label trials was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of vaniprevir + peginterferon alfa-2b + ribavirin (PR) in Japanese patients with HCV genotype (GT)1 infection who had previously failed treatment with interferon-based regimens., Methods: Japanese patients with chronic HCV GT1 were enrolled. In PN044, patients with previous relapse or virologic breakthrough were randomized to vaniprevir (300 mg twice daily) + PR for 12 weeks followed by PR for another 12 weeks (12-week arm) or vaniprevir + PR for 24 weeks (24-week arm). In PN045, patients with previous partial/null response received vaniprevir + PR for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was sustained virologic response at 24 weeks after completing treatment (SVR 24 )., Results: In PN044 (n = 51), SVR 24 was 92.0% and 96.2% in the 12- and 24-week arms, respectively. In PN045 (n = 42), SVR 24 was 61.9% in all patients and 55.2% in previous null responders. In both studies, vaniprevir + PR was generally safe and well tolerated; the majority of adverse events were mild/moderate and included pyrexia, decreased hemoglobin, headache, nausea, pruritus, and decreased platelet count. Polymorphisms in the HCV NS3 gene at baseline (Y56, Q80, and V170) did not impact treatment outcome. Virologic failure was principally associated with the on-treatment emergence of R155 or D168 mutations., Conclusions: Vaniprevir + PR is an effective, well-tolerated treatment for Japanese patients with HCV GT1 infection who failed previous interferon-based treatment. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01405937 and NCT01405560 (Protocols PN044 and PN045)., (© 2016 The Authors Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology published by Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Foundation and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

Background & Aims: We compared outcomes by cirrhosis status across studies of the all-oral combination of daclatasvir (DCV) plus asunaprevir (ASV)., Methods: Outcomes from global and Japanese phase 2 and 3 clinical studies of DCV+ASV in patients with genotype (GT) 1b infection were assessed by cirrhosis status. Sustained virological response (SVR) was assessed in individual phase 3 studies; a pooled analysis was carried out for safety outcomes., Results: In the Japanese phase 3 study, SVR12 was achieved by 91% of patients with cirrhosis (n = 22) and 84% of patients without cirrhosis (n = 200); in the global phase 3 study, SVR12 was achieved by 84% of patients with cirrhosis (n = 206) and by 85% of patients without cirrhosis (n = 437). The frequency of serious adverse events, adverse events leading to treatment discontinuation and treatment-emergent grade 3/4 laboratory abnormalities was low (<10%) and similar among patients with (n = 229) or without (n = 689) compensated cirrhosis receiving DCV+ASV. Grade 3/4 reductions in platelets and neutrophils were more common among patients with cirrhosis (1.3 and 2.2%, respectively) compared with those without cirrhosis (both 0.6%). Grade 3/4 liver function test abnormalities were less common among patients with cirrhosis (1.8%) compared with those without cirrhosis (3.5-4.7%). Alanine aminotransferase elevations were not associated with hepatic decompensation., Conclusions: The safety and efficacy of DCV+ASV were similar in patients with or without compensated cirrhosis. This all-oral, interferon- and ribavirin-free combination is an effective and well-tolerated treatment option for patients with HCV GT1b infection and cirrhosis. Trial registrations numbers: Clinicaltrials.gov identifiers: NCT01012895; NCT01051414; NCT01581203; NCT01497834., (© 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Vaniprevir is a potent macrocyclic hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural protein 3/4A protease inhibitor. This phase III study evaluated the safety and efficacy of vaniprevir in combination with peginterferon alfa-2b and ribavirin (PR) for 24 weeks compared with PR alone for 48 weeks in treatment-naive Japanese patients with HCV genotype 1 infection., Methods: Treatment-naive Japanese patients with HCV genotype 1 infection were randomly assigned to receive vaniprevir (300 mg twice daily) plus PR for 12 weeks then PR alone for 12 weeks, vaniprevir (300 mg twice daily) plus PR for 24 weeks, or PR alone for 48 weeks. The primary end point was sustained virologic response 24 weeks after completion of treatment (SVR24)., Results: In total, 294 patients were randomly assigned to receive treatment. Most patients had HCV genotype 1b infection (98 %, 288 of 294 patients). SVR24 was achieved in 83.7, 84.5, and 55.1 % of the patients in the vaniprevir 12-week, vaniprevir 24-week, and control arms, respectively. The difference in SVR24 rates between each vaniprevir arm and the control arm was statistically significant (p < 0.001 for both). Relapse was commoner in the control arm (29.5 %) than in the vaniprevir arms (8.6 % and 10.5 % for the 12-week and 24-week arms, respectively). Commonly reported adverse events were generally similar across treatment arms, with the exception of an increase in the incidence of gastrointestinal adverse events such as nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting in patients receiving vaniprevir. These events were considered manageable., Conclusion: Vaniprevir is a valuable addition to the therapeutic options available to Japanese patients with HCV genotype 1 infection who are eligible for interferon-based treatment. CLINICALTRIALS., Gov Identifier: NCT01370642.

Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) elevations were the most frequent adverse events during all-oral combinations with daclatasvir and asunaprevir for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, but the underline mechanisms are unclear. Seventy patients with chronic HCV genotype 1b infection, who were introduced daclatasvir 60 mg once daily plus asunaprevir 100 mg twice daily for 24 weeks, were measured serum asunaprevir concentrations at the one point or more of 2, 4, and 8 weeks after the start of treatment. In 4 and 8 weeks after the start of treatment, asunaprevir concentrations in patients with albumin levels <3.6 g/dl at baseline were significantly higher than those in patients with albumin levels ≥3.6 g/dl. The baseline factors did not affect to ALT severe elevations (≥300 IU/l). At 2 weeks after the start of treatment, ALT severe elevations with asunaprevir concentrations of ≥800 ng/ml (54.5%) tended to indicate the higher rates than those of <800 ng/ml (17.6%). Furthermore, the discontinuation or reduction of asunaprevir improved ALT levels, regardless the significant decrease of serum asunaprevir concentrations. In conclusion, serum albumin levels affected to serum asunaprevir concentrations, and serum asunaprevir concentrations might partly affect to ALT severe elevations. Further large-scale prospective studies are needed to investigate the impact of the discontinuation or reduction of asunaprevir to help in the design of more effective therapeutic regimens., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background and Aims: A sustained virological response (SVR) decreases the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with hepatitis C. We investigated the long-term outcomes of patients who developed HCC after achieving SVR with interferon therapy., Patients: Of 75 patients who developed HCC after SVR, 40 patients underwent radical therapies (SVR group). From 436 patients undergoing surgical resection for hepatitis C virus-positive HCC, 80 patients were randomly chosen as a control cohort, after adjusting for age, gender, and extent of hepatic fibrosis (non-SVR group). Patients were observed for a median of 5.08 years., Results: HCC recurrence was found in 16 SVR patients and in 66 non-SVR patients. The respective HCC recurrence rates of SVR and non-SVR patients were 23 and 56% at 3 years, 42 and 77% at 5 years, and 53 and 90% at 10 years (p = 0.001). The respective overall survival rates in the SVR and non-SVR groups were 93 and 68% at 5 years, 88 and 34% at 10 years, and 53 and 21% at 15 years (p = 0.001)., Conclusion: Although SVR patients had a significantly lower HCC recurrence rate than the non-SVR patients, the cumulative recurrence rate of SVR patients increased to 86% at 15 years., (© 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Background and Aims: Predictive factors for hepatocarcinogenesis following eradication of hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA by antiviral therapy with direct-acting antivirals are unknown. Especially the impact of treatment with or without interferon on hepatocarcinogenesis is not clear., Methods: A total of 958 patients with HCV genotype 1-related chronic liver disease and a sustained virological response defined as negative HCV RNA 24 weeks after cessation of antiviral therapy with direct-acting antivirals (triple therapy of NS3/4A protease inhibitor/peginterferon/ribavirin or all-oral combination therapy with NS3/4A protease inhibitor plus NS5A inhibitor) were included in a retrospective study. None of the patients had hepatocellular carcinoma before and during antiviral therapy., Results: In all, 14 patients developed hepatocellular carcinoma during follow-up, and the development rate per 1,000 person-years was 7.35. The cumulative hepatocarcinogenesis rates were 4.2 and 4.2% at the end of 5 and 7 years, respectively. Multivariate analysis identified fibrosis 4 (FIB4) index (≥2.7) and body mass index (≥23.0) as determinants of hepatocarcinogenesis, but they did not identify the treatment regimen. In patients with a FIB4 index ≥2.7, the hepatocarcinogenesis rates with the interferon regimen were not different from those for the regimen without interferon, regardless of gender., Conclusion: Liver fibrosis and body mass index, but not treatment regimen, are important predictors of hepatocarcinogenesis following eradication of HCV RNA by direct-acting antivirals., (© 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Unlabelled: GIFT-I is a phase 3 trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of a 12-week regimen of coformulated ombitasvir (OBV)/paritaprevir (PTV)/ritonavir (r) for treatment of Japanese hepatitis C virus genotype 1b-infected patients. It consists of a double-blind, placebo-controlled substudy of patients without cirrhosis and an open-label substudy of patients with compensated cirrhosis. Patients without cirrhosis were randomized 2:1 to once-daily OBV/PTV/r (25 mg/150 mg/100 mg; group A) or placebo (group B). Patients with cirrhosis received open-label OBV/PTV/r (group C). The primary efficacy endpoint was the rate of sustained virological response 12 weeks posttreatment in interferon-eligible, treatment-naive patients without cirrhosis and hepatitis C virus RNA ≥100,000 IU/mL in group A. A total of 321 patients without cirrhosis were randomized and dosed with double-blind study drug (106 received double-blind placebo and later received open-label OBV/PTV/r), and 42 patients with cirrhosis were enrolled and dosed with open-label OBV/PTV/r. In the primary efficacy population, the rate of sustained virological response 12 weeks posttreatment was 94.6% (106/112, 95% confidence interval 90.5-98.8). Sustained virological response 12 weeks posttreatment rates were 94.9% (204/215) in group A, 98.1% (104/106) in group B (open-label), and 90.5% (38/42) in group C. Overall, virological failure occurred in 3.0% (11/363) of patients who received OBV/PTV/r. The rate of discontinuation due to adverse events was 0%-2.4% in the three patient groups receiving OBV/PTV/r. The most frequent adverse event in patients in any group was nasopharyngitis., Conclusion: In this broad hepatitis C virus genotype 1b-infected Japanese patient population with or without cirrhosis, treatment with OBV/PTV/r for 12 weeks was highly effective and demonstrated a favorable safety profile., (© 2015 The Authors. Hepatology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.)

The impact of the HCV genotype 1b core amino acid (aa) 70 mutant on the cumulative rate of hepatocellular carcinoma following eradication of HCV RNA by antiviral therapy was investigated with the Q-Invader assay. Multivariate analysis based on 649 patients indicated that a core aa70 Q-Invader mutant level ≥20% is a predictor of hepatocellular carcinoma., (Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.)

Objective: The number of patients with HCV-related cirrhosis is increasing, leading to a rising risk of complications and death. Prognostic stratification in patients with early-stage cirrhosis is still challenging. We aimed to develop and validate a clinically useful prognostic index based on genomic and clinical variables to identify patients at high risk of disease progression., Design: We developed a prognostic index, comprised of a 186-gene signature validated in our previous genome-wide profiling study, bilirubin (>1 mg/dL) and platelet count (<100,000/mm(3)), in an Italian HCV cirrhosis cohort (training cohort, n=216, median follow-up 10 years). The gene signature test was implemented using a digital transcript counting (nCounter) assay specifically developed for clinical use and the prognostic index was evaluated using archived specimens from an independent cohort of HCV-related cirrhosis in the USA (validation cohort, n=145, median follow-up 8 years)., Results: In the training cohort, the prognostic index was associated with hepatic decompensation (HR=2.71, p=0.003), overall death (HR=6.00, p<0.001), hepatocellular carcinoma (HR=3.31, p=0.001) and progression of Child-Turcotte-Pugh class (HR=6.70, p<0.001). The patients in the validation cohort were stratified into high-risk (16%), intermediate-risk (42%) or low-risk (42%) groups by the prognostic index. The high-risk group had a significantly increased risk of hepatic decompensation (HR=7.36, p<0.001), overall death (HR=3.57, p=0.002), liver-related death (HR=6.49, p<0.001) and all liver-related adverse events (HR=4.98, p<0.001)., Conclusions: A genomic and clinical prognostic index readily available for clinical use was successfully validated, warranting further clinical evaluation for prognostic prediction and clinical trial stratification and enrichment for preventive interventions., (Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.)

Introduction: Oral daclatasvir (DCV; pangenotypic NS5A inhibitor) plus asunaprevir (ASV; NS3 protease inhibitor) is approved in Japan and Korea for treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1. Response to DCV + ASV is affected by DCV resistance-associated polymorphisms (RAPs) in HCV NS5A. The prevalence and influence of these RAPs on 12-week sustained virologic response (SVR12) to DCV + ASV was evaluated in Asian and non-Asian patients., Methods: Data were pooled from 5 national and international studies of patients with HCV genotype 1b (GT-1b) receiving DCV + ASV at their recommended doses. Baseline NS5A RAPs and their effect on SVR12 were assessed overall, in older (≥65 years) patients, patients with cirrhosis, and in patients stratified by baseline HCV RNA or prior treatment experience with interferon-based therapy., Results: Baseline NS5A sequences were available from 988 patients (374 Japanese; 125 Korean/Taiwanese; 489 from non-Asian countries), 979 of whom were assessed for SVR12. Pretreatment NS5A-L31F/I/M/V and/or NS5A-Y93H polymorphisms were present in 18% of Japanese and 12-13% of non-Japanese patients; these RAPs reduced SVR12 by 54.9% overall (93.9% [787/838] SVR12 when absent, 39.0% [55/141] SVR12 when present), with comparable reductions observed in Asians and non-Asians and across all categories of treatment experience, age, and cirrhosis. RAP-associated SVR12 rates declined with increasing baseline HCV RNA (SVR12 with RAPs: 64.7% [11/17] at 5-6 log10 IU/mL, 29.8% [14/47] at 7-8 log10). Without baseline RAPs, very high SVR12 rates (92-100%) were observed in older patients and patients with cirrhosis irrespective of national origin, with similarly high rates observed among treatment-naïve and interferon-experienced patients and those with high baseline HCV RNA., Conclusions: Following DCV + ASV treatment, the SVR12 rates in GT-1b patients without baseline NS5A-L31F/I/M/V and/or NS5A-Y93H polymorphisms were very high (approximately 90-100%), irrespective of age, cirrhosis, prior interferon treatment, or baseline HCV RNA., Funding: Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Unlabelled: Approximately 2 million Japanese individuals are infected with hepatitis C virus and are at risk for cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Patients in whom interferon (IFN)/ribavirin (RBV) therapy has failed remain at risk as effective therapeutic options are limited. This phase 2, randomized, open-label study evaluated an IFN- and RBV-free regimen of once-daily ombitasvir (ABT-267), an NS5A inhibitor, plus paritaprevir (ABT-450), an NS3/4A protease inhibitor dosed with ritonavir (paritaprevir/ritonavir), in pegylated IFN/RBV treatment-experienced Japanese patients with hepatitis C virus subtype 1b or genotype 2 infection. Patients without cirrhosis (aged 18-75 years) with subtype 1b infection received ombitasvir 25 mg plus paritaprevir/ritonavir 100/100 mg or 150/100 mg for 12 or 24 weeks; patients with genotype 2 infection received ombitasvir 25 mg plus paritaprevir/ritonavir 100/100 mg or 150/100 mg for 12 weeks. Sustained virologic response (SVR) at posttreatment week 24 (SVR24 ) was the primary endpoint. Adverse events were collected throughout the study. One hundred ten patients received ≥1 dose of study medication. In the subtype 1b cohort, SVR24 rates were high (88.9%-100%) regardless of paritaprevir dose or treatment duration. In the genotype 2 cohort, SVR24 rates were 57.9% and 72.2% with 100 mg and 150 mg of paritaprevir, respectively. The SVR24 rate was higher in patients with subtype 2a (90%) than 2b (27%). Concordance between SVR12 and SVR24 was 100%. The most common adverse events overall were nasopharyngitis (29%) and headache (14%)., Conclusion: In this difficult-to-treat population of patients in whom prior pegylated IFN/RBV had failed, ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir demonstrated potent antiviral activity with a favorable safety profile among Japanese patients with hepatitis C virus genotype 1b or 2a infection., (© 2015 The Authors. HEPATOLOGY published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.)

The present study was designed to assess the evolution of simeprevir-resistant variants (amino acid substitutions of aa80, aa155, aa156, and aa168 positions in HCV NS3 region) over time in virological non-responders (patients with positive HCV-RNA during and at end of treatment). The study enrolled 136 patients infected with HCV genotype 1b who received 12-week simeprevir-PEG-IFN-ribavirin therapy, and data of 87 patients were available for analysis. Twelve patients (14%) were considered virological non-responders, including 9 (75%) who showed absolute no-response (HCV RNA: ≥3.0 log IU/ml at 12 weeks after start of therapy). Multivariate analysis of these patients identified lack of response to prior treatment, use of low ribavirin dose, and old age as independent and significant determinants of virological non-response. Using ultra-deep sequencing, de novo variants of D168 were detected in all of 9 absolute non-responders. The majority of these variants emerged within 5 weeks of triple therapy. In comparison, de novo variants of Q80 were detected in only 3 of 9 absolute non-responders and emerged at 6-12 weeks. Variants of Q80 detected at baseline increased during the course of treatment in 5 of 9 absolute non-responders, while no such increase was noted in variants of R155 and/or A156 detected at baseline during the 12-week course. De novo variants of R155 and/or A156 were not detected in this study. The results demonstrated the emergence of simeprevir-resistant variants during the early stage of triple therapy., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Effective prophylactic therapies have not been established for hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence. Peretinoin represents one novel option for patients with hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCV-HCC), and it was tested in a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study., Methods: Patients with curative therapy were assigned to one of the following regimens: peretinoin 600, 300 mg/day, or placebo for up to 96 weeks. The primary outcome was recurrence-free survival (RFS)., Results: Of the 401 patients initially enrolled, 377 patients were analyzed for efficacy. The RFS rates in the 600-mg group, the 300-mg group, and the placebo group were 71.9, 63.6, and 66.0 % at 1 year, and 43.7, 24.9, and 29.3 % at 3 years, respectively. The primary comparison of peretinoin (300 and 600-mg) with placebo was not significant (P = 0.434). The dose-response relationship based on the hypothesis that "efficacy begins to increase at 600 mg/day" was significant (P = 0.023, multiplicity-adjusted P = 0.048). The hazard ratios for RFS in the 600-mg group vs. the placebo group were 0.73 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.51-1.03] for the entire study period and 0.27 (95 % CI 0.07-0.96) after 2 years of the randomization. Common adverse events included ascites, increased blood pressure, headache, presence of urine albumin, and increased transaminases., Conclusions: Although the superiority of peretinoin to placebo could not be validated, 600 mg/day was shown to be the optimal dose, and treatment may possibly reduce the recurrence of HCV-HCC, particularly after 2 years. The efficacy and safety of peretinoin 600 mg/day should continue to be evaluated in further studies.

All-oral combinations of direct-acting antivirals improve efficacy and safety outcomes for patients with hepatitis C virus infection, particularly those who are poor candidates for current interferon/ribavirin-based regimens. The frequency of adverse events was also low, especially compared with historical data in patients receiving a triple regimen with NS3/4A protease inhibitor and peginterferon/ribavirin. However, there was apparent association between preexisting NS5A resistance-associated variants and virologic failure. Furthermore, both NS5A and NS3 resistance-associated variants were also detected in most patients with virologic failure. In conclusion, more effective therapeutic regimens should be selected, based on further understanding of efficacy and safety in each of drugs.

Background & Aims: In a Japanese Phase II study, the hepatitis C virus NS3/4A protease inhibitor simeprevir demonstrated potent antiviral activity and significantly improved sustained virologic response rates when added to peginterferon α-2a/ribavirin in treatment-naïve patients infected with hepatitis C virus genotype 1., Methods: CONCERTO-1 was a Phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Treatment-naïve adults (⩽ 70 years) with chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection (hepatitis C virus RNA ⩾ 5 log10 IU/ml) were randomized (2:1) to simeprevir 100mg once-daily with peginterferon α-2a/ribavirin for 12 weeks then response-guided therapy with peginterferon α-2a/ribavirin for 12 or 36 weeks, or to placebo with peginterferon α-2a/ribavirin for 12 weeks then peginterferon α-2a/ribavirin for 36 weeks., Results: Overall, 183 patients were treated. Sustained virologic response 12 weeks after treatment end (primary efficacy endpoint) was achieved in 88.6% of simeprevir- and 61.7% of placebo-treated patients (p<0.0001 for stratum-adjusted between-group difference). Overall, 91.9% of simeprevir-treated patients met response-guided therapy criteria and completed treatment at week 24; sustained virologic response rate at 12 weeks in these patients was 92.0%. One simeprevir- (0.8%) and two placebo-treated patients (3.3%) experienced viral breakthrough; respective viral relapse rates were 7.6% and 30.6%. Overall adverse event profile in simeprevir-treated patients was comparable to that in patients who received peginterferon α-2a/ribavirin alone., Conclusions: Simeprevir once daily with peginterferon α-2a/ribavirin significantly improved sustained virologic response rate 12 weeks after treatment end in treatment-naïve patients with chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection, with a shorter 24-week treatment duration in most patients., (Copyright © 2014 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Unlabelled: All-oral combinations of direct-acting antivirals may improve efficacy and safety outcomes for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, particularly those who are poor candidates for current interferon/ribavirin-based regimens. In this open-label, phase 3 study, 135 interferon-ineligible/intolerant and 87 nonresponder patients with chronic HCV genotype 1b infection were enrolled at 24 centers in Japan. Patients received daclatasvir 60 mg once daily plus asunaprevir 100 mg twice daily for 24 weeks. The primary endpoint was sustained virologic response 24 weeks after treatment (SVR24 ). This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01497834). SVR24 was achieved by 87.4% of interferon-ineligible/intolerant patients and 80.5% of nonresponder (null and partial) patients; rates were similar in cirrhosis (90.9%) and noncirrhosis (84.0%) patients, and in patients with IL28B CC (84.5%) or non-CC (84.8%) genotypes. Fourteen patients in each group (12.6%) discontinued dual therapy, mainly due to adverse events or lack of efficacy. Nine nonresponder patients received additional treatment with peginterferon/ribavirin per protocol-defined criteria. The rate of serious adverse events was low (5.9%) and varied among patients. The most common adverse events were nasopharyngitis, increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), headache, diarrhea, and pyrexia., Conclusion: Interferon-free, ribavirin-free all-oral therapy with daclatasvir and asunaprevir for 24 weeks is well tolerated and can achieve a high rate of SVR in patients with HCV genotype 1b who were ineligible, intolerant, or had not responded to prior interferon-based therapy. (Hepatology 2014;59:2083-2091)., (Copyright © 2014 The Authors. HEPATOLOGY published by Wiley on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.)