Bristol-Myers Interferon-Free Mixture Cures Hepatitis-C Patients in Study
By Naomi Kresge - Apr 2, 2011 12:48 PM ET
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY)’s cocktail of two experimental drugs cured four hepatitis C patients in the first success for a therapy that excludes often-toxic existing drugs.
The combination had a higher rate of success when paired with the current standard treatment in the 21-person trial, curing nine of 10 patients, researchers said today at the Berlin meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver. The study points to the next generation of drugs for the evasive virus, said Mark Thursz, a professor of hepatology at Imperial College London and vice-secretary of EASL.
Bristol-Myers, based in New York, is among about a dozen companies trying to make better drug combinations that either include interferon, a decades-old shot that causes flu-like symptoms and only works in half of patients, or that replace interferon entirely. At stake is leadership in a market that Jefferies International Ltd. estimates may total $15 billion a year by 2019.
“This is perhaps one of the most exciting developments this year,” Thursz said in an interview. “For some patients who are not going to tolerate interferon, this is the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Bristol-Myers plans to begin the last trials required for regulatory approval this year, Douglas Manion, the drugmaker’s head of neuroscience and virology research, said in an interview.
Toughest-to-Treat
Today’s trial studied the Bristol-Myers drugs, BMS-790052 and BMS-650032, in patients for whom existing therapies hadn’t been successful, “the toughest-to-treat population,” Manion said.
Ten patients got the two drugs together with interferon and generic ribavirin. All showed no sign of the virus 12 weeks after the treatment was over. One patient had signs of virus at 24 weeks and was again virus-free in another follow-up test 35 days later.
Of 11 patients who took the Bristol-Myers combination alone, five had cleared the virus from their bodies at the end of treatment. Four remained virus-free after 24 weeks.
Patients may start treatment earlier if they aren’t faced with the toxic side effects of traditional hepatitis C drugs, said Howard Liang, a Boston-based analyst for Leerink Swann & Co., in an interview.
“If you have an interferon-free regimen, the market expands fairly dramatically,” Liang said.
Side Effects
Side effects of the existing interferon regimen are often severe enough to force patients to take time off work, said Charles Gore, president of the Geneva-based patient advocacy group World Hepatitis Alliance.
Roche Holding AG (ROG) of Basel, Switzerland, sells a version of interferon under the brand name Pegasys, while Merck & Co. of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey markets a form called PegIntron.
Merck, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (VRTX) and Johnson & Johnson are expected to bring the first new hepatitis C drugs in a decade to the market this year. About 90 percent of patients who responded quickly to treatment with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Vertex’s telaprevir were cured, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Vertex said in two studies last year. Three-quarters of all patients were cured. Patients who responded quickly to Merck’s boceprevir showed similarly high cure rates in studies last year, with about two-thirds of all patients being cured.
The Vertex and Merck trials included people who hadn’t yet been treated, an easier-to-cure group than those in today’s smaller study. By comparison, about 30 percent of those who hadn’t responded to previous treatment were cured after trying telaprevir plus standard therapy, researchers said.
Seeking Partners
Merck is seeking partnerships to gain its own hepatitis C drug combinations, Patrick Bergstedt, general manager of the infectious diseases franchise, said in an interview.
“We’re behind the others,” Bergstedt said. “We need to partner to fill the gap.”
Bristol-Myers expects an “element of consolidation” as companies use acquisitions, partnerships and research and development collaborations to gain their own hepatitis C drug combinations, Manion said. After signing a development deal with Princeton, New Jersey-based Pharmasset Inc. (VRUS) in January, Bristol- Myers is “talking to pretty much every company out there,” he said.
“This is like trying to redesign a car as you’re rolling down the road at 100 miles per hour, because the data are coming so fast,” he said. “What an exciting time.”
