Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Re: Role of interferon in HCV combination therapy

The thesis I am interested in is whether IFN is likely to have a place in the HCV universe after anti-virals become SoC. I have previous supposed that there was a good chance of a very high relapse rate if an immune modulator does not follow direct anti-virals. With this data I would now state that thesis with more confidence - making it a predict.

I respectfully disagree.

When a treatment regimen includes only one direct-antiviral agent, as in VRTX’s PROVE-3 study, the role of interferon and ribavirin in mopping up mutations to the single antiviral is obvious and unquestioned.

However, when a cocktail includes multiple* antiviral drugs with complimentary resistance profiles, the need for interferon or another immunomodulator is far from clear.

*The optimal number will likely be three, as in HIV therapy.