Purification of potential hepatitis C treatment at Gilead Sciences lab
April 23, 2013, 4:41 PM
By Russ Britt
(Corrected to note AbbVie is in phase 3 of trials.)
With an international conference as a backdrop, the four-company horse race to get the next best thing for treating hepatitis C — an oral medication — heated up Tuesday as all four got the word out on progress developing their weapons against the liver ailment.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. /quotes/zigman/220498/quotes/nls/bmyBMY+1.07%, AbbVie Inc. /quotes/zigman/13067932/quotes/nls/abbvABBV+0.02%, Merck & Co. /quotes/zigman/574389/quotes/nls/mrkMRK-0.21% and Gilead Sciences Inc. /quotes/zigman/72849/quotes/nls/gildGILD-0.62% all were vying for investors’ affection — and getting it in some cases in Tuesday trading. The European Association for the Study of the Liver conference in Amsterdam was the setting for an onslaught of presentations by the various companies hoping to get the upper hand in getting their treatments to market.
A paper released in the New England Journal of Medicine Tuesday seemed to give Gilead the edge, though it was hard to tell from the company’s stock price. Shares were down 1.3% to $53.33 at the close.
Gilead’s phase 3 testing showed that a combination of the company’s sofosbuvir along with ribavirin wiped out the disease in all patients after a 12-week treatment program, noting that 97% to 99% of the virus was eliminated in patients within four weeks.
Gilead is considered the furthest along and is expected to seek marketing approval next year. But AbbVie released findings on Tuesday that showed its treatment, a combination of five oral drugs, cured 88% of patients after eight weeks and 99% after 12 weeks. AbbVie’s results were done in November, during phase 2 of testing, and it has since moved on to phase 3. It was rewarded by investors at first as shares jumped more than 4% at one point. Shares settled back for a 2% gain to $45.14 by session’s end.
Bristol-Myers jumped on the bandwagon by noting that phase 2 tests of its three-drug medication achieved high rates of success in 94% of patients anywhere between four to 36 weeks. The company plans to start phase 3 testing later this year. Shares were up marginally to $42.30.
And Merck let it be known that its hepatitis C solution, a concoction of three medications, would be presented later this week at the Amsterdam gathering. Phase 2 testing showed continued response for up to 92% patients after 24 weeks. Shares closed higher by 1.5% to $48.63.
Current hepatitis C treatments can take up to a year and generally come in injected forms. The market is considered lucrative because the disease affects 170 million people worldwide.
Stay tuned……
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