Janssen receives EU backing for new Incivo indication

Janssen's hepatitis C therapy Incivo has been granted a new European Commission approval for an additional indication.

The regulator has endorsed the drug for twice-daily dosing in combination with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin among naive and treatment-experienced patients with genotype-1 chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

Results from the Optimise clinical study showed that this therapy option was able to deliver a similarly positive performance in terms of sustained virologic response compared to the previously-approved dosing option.

Incivo has been available for sale in Europe since 2011 and is also marketed in the US by Vertex Pharmaceuticals under the name Incivek.

Gaston Picchio, hepatitis disease area leader at Janssen, said: "This medicine is the cornerstone of our efforts to improve the lives of more people living with HCV and supporting healthcare professionals around the world."

Earlier this week, Janssen and Johnson and Johnson Innovation agreed a new collaboration with Belgian scientists to carry out research into new neurodegenerative disease therapies.