Sofosbuvir-Containing Regimens Without Interferon For Treatment of Acute Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Infection

Early identification of acute HCV infection is essential to prevent chronic infections and the long-term liver disease complications that may occur. Early identification and treatment of HCV during the acute phase can result in significantly higher response rates with shorter durations of therapy. Pegylated-interferon alfa (PEG-IFN) was the typical treatment for HCV infection. Participants subcutaneously inject PEG-IFN where the average duration of treatment was approximately 20 weeks. With the advancement of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), it was possible to see if a new DAA might be non-inferior compared to (PEG-IFN). The study was designed to see if a fixed-dose combination tablet can replace the old HCV treatments by being more effective, safer and better tolerated in HIV-infected participants with new HCV infection. The study was a Phase I, open-label, two cohort clinical trial, in which 44 acutely HCV-infected HIV-1 positive participants were enrolled. Participants in each cohort were evaluated in two steps: on treatment (Step 1) and follow-up after discontinuing study treatment (Step 2). The cohorts were enrolled sequentially. Participants in Cohort 1 were enrolled and administered oral Sofosbuvir (SOF) in combination with weight-based ribavirin (RBV). Participants in Cohort 2 were enrolled and administered an oral fixed dose combination of Ledipasvir/Sofosbuvir (LDV/SOF).