Merck Sharpe and Dohme to publish phase III data on Victrelis

Merck Sharpe and Dohme has announced plans to publish new phase III clinical trial data on its hepatitis C drug Victrelis at a forthcoming medical conference.

The company will attend the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases next month to present more than 30 abstracts pertaining to the innovative therapy.

Among them will be a presentation of data from the Provide study, which evaluated Victrelis in combination with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin in adult patients who have proven unresponsive to other therapy options.

Meanwhile, further data will be presented on MK-5172, an investigational once-daily, second-generation oral hepatitis treatment option.

Dr Roger Pomerantz, senior vice-president for infectious diseases at Merck Research Laboratories, said: "Merck looks forward to sharing data with the scientific community at this year's AASLD to inform the continuing fight against chronic hepatitis C."

The company received approval from the European Commission for the sale of Victrelis in July this year.