January 23rd, 2012 by DebbieG
Combination of Oral Drugs Suppress Hep C in University of Michigan Study
This study was conducted by Dr. Anna Lok, whom The Greenview Hepatitis C Fund supports.
“In this pilot study, patients with hepatitis C genotype 1 infection, who had not responded to previous treatment with PEG-interferon alfa and ribavirin, were given a combination of two investigational direct-acting antiviral agents (daclatasvir and asunaprevir) alone, or were given these two antiviral agents along with PEG-interferon alfa-2a and ribavirin.”
“Although only four of 11 patients given the two direct-acting antiviral agents only achieved sustained virologic response, this is the first study to show that sustained virologic response can be achieved without the use of interferon or ribavirin.”
Read the entire article here:
http://www.uofmhealth.org/news/drug-combination-suppresses-hepatitis-c
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January 11th, 2012 by DebbieG
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November 16th, 2011 by DebbieG
Ok. We give up! The news on HCV research is coming out way to fast and furious for us to deal with. Hepatitis Central has a much bigger staff to be able to handle this, so we are directing you to their free newsletter (and website) for any future news on HCV.
http://www.hepatitis-central.com/list.html
We will be concentrating on fund raising for even more HCV research. If you haven’t visited our website, here is our Mission statement :
“Despite the vast number of people with hepatitis C, the seriousness of the disease and the alarming number of deaths, research for a cure or better treatment receives very little funding. The Greenview Foundation’s Hepatitis C Fund exists to raise money for medical research, primarily in the form of seed money for promising research projects that might not otherwise progress far enough to be eligible for large grants. We are particularly interested in these main areas:
1. Non- Interferon based treatment(s) because most treatment side effects stem from this drug
2. Non-invasive diagnostic procedures to assess disease progression because a liver biopsy, the current standard of assessment, is unpleasant, expensive and carries it’s own risks. Patients will avoid having a liver biopsy if at all possible and jeopardize their chances of survival
3. Methods to decrease side effects of available treatments because not only can side effects deter a patient from completing treatment, they can also be serious and permanent.”
To date, we have donated $45,000 to the University of Michigan. Partially because of this seed money, an additional $40,000 in grant money was awarded to the University of Michigan HCV research program. We will be donating another $10 -$12,000 yet this year. We’ve also made a $5,000 donation to the University of Miami for HCV research.
The Dragon has not been slayed yet, so we will continue to raise as much money as we can for HCV research. Please support us in our uphill battle! Your comments on how this blog should continue would be appreciated. Good luck to all!
Posted in Research & Development | 1 Comment »
November 16th, 2011 by DebbieG
“In the past two years, the agency’s(FDA) lower levels of approvals—21 drugs in 2010 and 25 in 2009—caused concern throughout the industry and in Congress. We may feel grateful to FDA, but we also should ask how the agency achieved this high number of approvals.
Read more here
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November 16th, 2011 by DebbieG
“Chicago—Retrospective findings presented at the 2011 Digestive Disease Week meeting revealed that 64% of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have low levels of vitamin D (abstract Su1302). In light of the results, researchers are urging clinicians to monitor vitamin D levels in all patients with chronic viral hepatitis.”
Read more here
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November 16th, 2011 by DebbieG
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November 16th, 2011 by DebbieG
“Although well tolerated,” Fried’s team concluded, “oral silymarin administered at higher-than-customary doses did not significantly alter biochemical markers of disease activity in patients with chronic hepatitis C who had failed prior treatment with interferon-based regimens.”
Read more here
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November 12th, 2011 by DebbieG
“With respect to crude numbers, roughly 12,700 HIV-related deaths were reported to the National Center for Health Statistics in 2007. More than 15,000 HCV-related deaths were reported to the center that year.”
Read more here
Posted in Research & Development, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
November 10th, 2011 by DebbieG
Bristol-Myers Squibb issued data at the AASLD Liver Meeting on Monday from a phase 2 trial involving genotype 1b patients who had not responded to prior treatment with PEGinterferon/ribavirin. The trial treatment investigated daclatasvir (BMS-790052) and asunaprevir (BMS-650032), two direct-acting antiviral treatments, and did not include PEGinterferon/ribavirin. Safety and tolerability were consistent with that of current treatments.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb8942906.htm
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November 10th, 2011 by DebbieG
“Data announced Tuesday shows that treatment-naïve patients with hepatitis C (genotypes 1 and/or 4) treated in a phase IIb trial with BMS-790052 (daclatasvir) plus peginterferon alfa/ribavirin demonstrated greater virologic response rates through week 12 than the control group treated without BMS-790052. Patients with hepatitis C genotypes 1 and 4 are generally less responsive to treatment than patients with other genotypes and therefore there is a need for more effective treatments for these patients.”
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2011/11/prweb8942974.htm
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