Replies to post #30911 on Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

>Dew, are GI side affect [of NM283] so unbearable that a treatment refractory patient will be willing to allow the hcv virus to continue its destructive course because of it?<

At 800mg/day, the GI side effects were bad enough to cause a high percentage of patients to drop out of the phase-2b trial. At 200-400mg/day, on the other hand, the side effects appear to be manageable.

The question for NM283 in the treatment-refractory setting is whether there is a way to attain the efficacy seen in the 800mg cohort without the severe side effects.

[ThomasS]

o/t: speaking for myself, I will not inject ANY Interferons ever again, unless it is for a short duration (4 weeks or less), and, has a 95% probability of success. Moreover, I can afford to wait for a non-interferon treatment.
The key to the entire scenario for most any patient is "what does the biopsy show?" Every HCV patient is affected differently; if you are one of the lucky ones, you should wait and avoid inf altogether.
The problem is that too many patients are starting current therapy despite having a relatively clean liver biopsy, or NO BIOPSY AT ALL. And for what? The spectre of 35% success after 48 weeks of Hell? And what about the lasting long-term side-effects, whether you are cured or not?

I feel for those who have degraded livers and must try today's treatment options...

(A side note: my GI doc was not aware of the studies done re "prospect of optic nerve damage" during interferon use. They cannot know everything. It was finally the optic "problems" which prompted my discontinuation, based on my own research; short-lived problems, thankfully. My GI doc thanked me for enlightening him.)

In a nutshell, GI side-effects would be the least of my concerns "next time."