Schering-Plough reports on Peg-Intron and Rebetol combination therapy for hepatitis C.

2002 JUL 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP) reported results of several clinical studies presented at the 2002 Digestive Disease Week conference involving Peg-Intron (peginterferon alfa-2b) Powder for Injection in combination with Rebetol (ribavirin, USP) Capsules for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.

In all, 33 studies with Peg-Intron were presented by clinical investigators.

Peg-Intron and Rebetol combination therapy received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in August 2001 for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C in patients with compensated liver disease who have not been previously treated with interferon alpha and are at least 18 years of age.

In an oral presentation, investigators reported clinical data from one of the largest clinical trials studying African Americans with hepatitis C. The study indicated that the commonly lower response rate to treatment among African Americans is not related to genotype, as previously believed. Researchers have attributed lower treatment response rates in African Americans to the fact that this patient population predominantly contracts genotype 1 virus, which is the most difficult to treat. In this study, which compared the treatment response rate of African Americans to response rates of non-Hispanic whites, 98% of all patients studied had genotype 1. In the African American patient group, 28% had a virologic response ...