New Novartis data shows efficacy of telbivudine

A new study of the drug telbivudine has shown that it is superior in treating chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in patients compared to the commonly used treatment lamivudine.

The phase III trial was carried out in Shanghai, China, and all patients showed better clinical and antiviral efficacy one year after use compared to those taking lamivudine.

Dr Jinlin Hou, director of the hepatology unit and department of infectious diseases at Nanfang Hospital, China, said: “This data suggests that telbivudine could become an important new first-line treatment option for the millions of Chinese patients suffering from this potentially life-threatening disease.”

The findings of the study were consistent with those of the Globe study, which is being conducted at 112 clinical centres in 20 countries around the world and is also the first to include China in international hepatitis B research.

Furthermore, the data from the Chinese trial supported the recently reported results from the Globe trial, which showed a favourable safety profile for telbivudine.

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