Janssen to cease hepatitis C research to focus on hepatitis B

Janssen has announced that it is bringing its current hepatitis C research programme to an early end.

The company will discontinue further development of the investigational hepatitis C treatment regimen JNJ-4178, which combines AL-335, odalasvir and simeprevir. Ongoing phase II studies will be completed as planned, but no additional development will follow.

Explaining this strategic move, Janssen noted that the range of available hepatitis C therapies has expanded considerably in recent years, with the current standard of care offering a cure to between 92 and 100 percent of people treated.

As such, the company's research team will instead focus its attentions on chronic hepatitis B, which is considered to be an area with greater unmet medical need.

Dr Lawrence Blatt, global head of infectious disease therapeutics at Janssen, said: "Our scientists are energised by this challenge and our research ambition is to achieve a functional cure of hepatitis B, which affects over a quarter of a billion people globally."

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