Study: Hepatitis C treatment shows promise

Human Genome Sciences says a recent study showed its experimental hepatitis C drug is well-tolerated and reduces the virus in some treatment-naive patients. The study involved 56 patients who were each given one of five doses of Albuferon. Patients were given two doses of Albuferon 14 days apart and were followed for six weeks, with the rate of viral load assessed on the 28th day. Sixty-nine percent of the patients taking the two highest doses achieved the targeted viral load reduction on the 28th day of the study. Hepatitis C is the most common chronic blood-borne infection in the developed world and afflicts about 4 million people in the United States, the company said. (AP)