Hope on the Horizon for New Hepatitis C Treatment

Although newer treatments have become available in recent years to treat the hepatitis C virus, HCV, but because they must be given with two other HCV treatments, substantial side effects and risk of drug interactions remain. A potential treatment, a drug still in the clinical research pipeline, works differently and would work against the hepatitis C virus with fewer side effects, according to a research article published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine .

Miravirsen, First of New Class of Drugs with Great Anticipated Potential

Miravirsen, the first in a new and potentially large class of drugs called RNA interference drugs, or RNAi, is an antisense oligonucleotide , explained MedpageToday.com . In layman terms, miravirsen is not a pharmaceutical, but rather a fragment of RNA that binds to substances within the genome of the hepatitis C virus, making that vital substance unavailable to the virus, causing its death. NPR.org likens miravirsen, and RNAi drugs in general, to a sponge that mops up "other RNA molecules that a virus or cancer cell needs to survive."

Miravirsen, unlike currently used HCV medications, will treat all types of the hepatitis C virus, even those that have been resistant to treatment thus far.

Judy Lieberman, M.D., Ph.D. , of Harvard Medical School and who was not involved with miravirsen research, explained to NPR.org that the pharmaceutical industry has been working for decades to make RNAi drugs work, believing they will have the potential to treat or cure many conditions such as cancer or heart disease.

For a time, hundreds of pharmaceutical companies invested time and money in RNAi drug research, but the lack of concrete results and loss of enthusiasm for the potential for this new class of drugs caused a reduction of funding for further research. Only a few pharmaceutical companies are now involved in RNAi research.

Isn't the Enthusiasm for Miravirsen High for a Drug in a Phase IIa Trial?

By most accounts, such enthusiasm for a drug in the mid-stages of clinical research is out of proportion to the information at this time. But the enthusiasm now is as much for the potential success of an RNAi drug as it is more miravirsen itself. If miravirsen is indeed proven successful, there will likely be renewed enthusiasm -- and perhaps funding -- for the development of more drugs in this class.

As Harry L.A. Janssen, M.D., Ph.D. and lead researcher on miravirsen pointed out to NPR.org, it's too soon to know how effective miravirsen will be against HCV in longer trials and although the side effects in this Phase IIa trial were minimal, there is yet no way of knowing what the long-term effects may be.

Bottom Line

It's true, miravirsen has only gone through Phase IIa of a 3-phase clinical study. The study sample was small: 27 participants with HCV received the drug in research that totaled 14 months. Side effects were limited to a rash and pain at the injection site. Four of the nine participants who received the highest dose of miravirsen had no trace of HCV after five injections.

It will be some time before more is known about the potential for this drug. In the meantime, 2 million baby boomers infected with HCV in the United States alone, and 170 million people worldwide with HCV, wait with bated breath for the most successful treatment with the least amount of side effects and potential adverse reactions.

The scientific and medical community wait to see if the first RNAi drug proves to be successful.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hope-horizon-hepatitis-c-treatment-162500868.html

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