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Atea Pharmaceuticals Announces First Patient Dosed in Phase 2 Study for Treatment of Hepatitis C with Bemnifosbuvir and Ruzasvir Combination
Combination Offers Opportunity to Improve Standard of Care with Potential for Short Duration, Protease Inhibitor-Free Treatment BOSTON, June 15, 2023 (GLOBE
About this update from Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Combination Offers Opportunity to Improve Standard of Care with Potential for Short Duration, Protease Inhibitor-Free Treatment\n BOSTON, June 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVIR) (“Atea”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of oral antiviral therapeutics for serious viral diseases, today announced the dosing of the first patient in the Phase 2 bemnifosbuvir and ruzasvir combination study for the treatment of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infection. “The initiation of this Phase 2 combination study marks an important clinical milestone for Atea,” said Jean-Pierre Sommadossi, PhD, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Atea Pharmaceuticals. “We believe the combination of bemnifosbuvir and ruzasvir has the potential to significantly improve upon the current standard of care by offering a short duration, pan-genotypic, protease inhibitor-free treatment for patients with HCV, with or without cirrhosis.” The open label Phase 2 study is designed to enroll approximately 280 HCV-infected, direct-acting antiviral naive patients across all genotypes, including a 60 patient lead-in cohort. Patients will be administered 550 mg bemnifosbuvir in combination with 180 mg ruzasvir once-daily for eight weeks. The primary endpoints of the study are safety and sustained virologic response (SVR) at Week 12 post-treatment. Other virologic endpoints include virologic failure, SVR at Week 24 post-treatment and resistance. Preliminary data from the 60 patient lead-in cohort are anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2023. “Despite significant treatment advances, there remains a large, underserved HCV patient population that continues to grow dramatically due to the opioid crisis, injection drug use and HCV reinfection. According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 58 million people globally have chronic HCV infection, about 1.5 million new infections occur per year and nearly 300,000 people die every year from HCV-related liver diseases,” added Dr. Sommadossi. About Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) HCV is a blood-borne, positive sense, single stranded RNA virus, primarily infecting cells of the liver. HCV is a leading cause of chronic liver disease and liver transplants and spreads via blood transfusion, hemodialysis and needle sticks. In the United States, injection drug use a...