Gilead Sciences reports positive hepatitis C drug trial data

Gilead Sciences has announced that its new sofosbuvir treatment regimen for hepatitis C has demonstrated efficacy in a clinical trial.

The company has reported top-line results from the phase III Positron study, during which once-daily sofosbuvir plus ribavirin was assessed among patients with genotype 2 or 3 chronic hepatitis C virus infection who were not candidates to take interferon.

It was revealed that 78 percent of patients were able to benefit from a sustained virologic response rate after 12 weeks, while the safety profile of the therapy was also confirmed.

No suitable alternative therapy currently exists for this patient group, making these positive findings a potentially important development.

Dr Norbert Bischofberger, executive vice-president of research and development and chief scientific officer at Gilead Sciences, said: "We look forward to sharing data from additional phase III studies in early 2013 and expect to submit our first regulatory filings for sofosbuvir by mid-2013."

Earlier this month, the company announced data from a new clinical trial that demonstrated the strong performance of its new HIV therapy Eviplera.