New Haven drug developer Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc. says its treatment against the hepatitis C virus has shown promising results in the first phase of a clinical trial.
Dr. Elizabeth Olek, chief medical officer, on Thursday told an influential European audience of liver specialists in Vienna, Austria, that hepatitis C patients treated with its ACH-1625 compound in a Phase I clinical trial showed “significant reduction” of the virus after a five-day treatment regimen.
Olek said the virus remained suppressed for at least seven days after dosing was completed. Also, study participants showed no ill effects of treatment, she said.
She said the results show Achillion’s hepatitis C anti-viral compound possibly has a competitive advantage over rival treatments under development.
Based on these early results, Olek said, Achillion will try lower doses, even once-daily doses, to see if that has the same effect against the virus. Untreated, hepatitis C can damage the liver.
Achillion is also developing treatements for other blood-borne diseases, including HIV.
