Pharmasset Inc. (fka VRUS)

[surf1944]

Pharmasset Announces R7128 Achieves 85% Rapid Virologic Response in a 4-week Combination Study for the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C
Monday January 7, 8:35 am ET
- 85% of patients achieve undetectable HCV RNA levels following 4 weeks of treatment with R7128 1500mg and Pegasys(R) plus Copegus(R) with safety and tolerability comparable to placebo -
- Conference Call Scheduled for 4:00PM ET Today -

PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pharmasset, Inc. (Nasdaq: VRUS - News) announces the preliminary results of a 4-week Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate two oral dose levels of R7128 in combination with Pegasys (pegylated interferon) plus Copegus (ribavirin) in 50 treatment-naive patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1. In this study, R7128 demonstrated potent short-term antiviral activity and was generally safe and well-tolerated. Eighty-five (85%) of patients receiving R7128 1500mg and Pegasys plus Copegus achieved undetectable HCV RNA levels following 4 weeks of treatment with safety and tolerability comparable to placebo. R7128 is a prodrug of PSI-6130, a cytidine nucleoside analogue polymerase inhibitor of HCV that is being developed through Pharmasset's collaboration with Roche.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080107/clm042.html?.v=101