Experimental
hepatitis C treatment shows promise

Biotech company Vertex Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday said a mid-stage clinical trial has shown its hepatitis C treatment lowered virus levels to undetectable levels. The Phase II trial enrolled 12 hepatitis C patients and dosed them with Vertex' VX-950 treatment for 28 days. At the end of the dosing period, all 12 patients had undetectable levels of the hepatitis C virus. The company said it also completed three-month studies on the treatment in animals. Vertex plans to submit the Phase II data and the animal studies to the Food and Drug Administration sometime during the first quarter.

Hepatitis C is a common coinfection among HIV-positive people. Experts estimate that 25% of HIV-positive people are coinfected with hepatitis C, and that as many as half of all injection-drug users infected with HIV are coinfected with hepatitis C. While there are vaccines that can prevent hepatitis A and B infections, there is no vaccine for hepatitis C. (AP, with additional reporting by Advocate.com)