FDA Advisors OK Hepatitis C Therapy

A combination of two powerful antiviral drugs that proved 10 times better at treating liver-destroying hepatitis C than standard therapy won the cautious backing of government advisors. It’s a complicated treatment that lasts six months: taking six capsules every day of an experimental drug called ribavirin, plus the standard therapy of interferon injections three times a week. But 49% of hepatitis C patients were virus-free six months after completing treatment, versus just 5% of patients taking standard therapy, concluded studies by drug manufacturer Schering-Plough Corp. Food and Drug Administration advisors voted unanimously that the agency should approve the combination. The FDA is not bound by its advisors’ recommendations but typically follows them.