Clinical Research Directory

The Efficacy of Vosevi in Treating DAA-experienced Patients

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains a significant health problem in our country. The World Health Organization estimated that 71 million people worldwide had chronic HCV infection in 2015. And 399,000 people died from cirrhosis or primary hepatocellular carcinoma caused by HCV infection. In 2006, the positive rate of HCV antibody in the population aged 1-59 was 0.43%. Therefore, it was estimated that there were about 5.6 million HCV infected people in the general population, and about 10 million cases of HCV infected people in high-risk groups and high incidence areas. Universal genotype direct antiviral agent (DAA) is the preferred antiviral therapy for hepatitis C. Sofosbuvir/velpatasvir are direct antiviral agents for hepatitis C. The results of Asian clinical trials mainly in Chinese population showed that the sustained virologic response (SVR) rates of sofosbuvir/velpatasvir at 12 weeks in genotype 1a, 1b, 2, 3a, 3b and 6 were 100%, 100%, 100%, 95%, 76% and 99%, respectively. Limited data showed that the SVR rate of sofosbuvir/velpatasvir at 12 weeks was 96% in Chinese genotype 3b patients without cirrhosis and 50% in patients with cirrhosis. After standard antiviral therapy for hepatitis C, there are still some patients who cannot obtain SVR, and these patients are defined as DAA-experienced patients. The guidelines recommend that Sofosbuvir/Velpatasvir combined with ribavirin be used as salvage therapy for patients with DAA-experienced failure. Vosevi is a new generation of antiviral therapy for hepatitis C, which contains three components, (Sofosbuvir, Velpatasvir and Voxilaprevir. It was a salvage treatment plan for DAAs-experienced patients which was recommended by the Chinese hepatitis C prevention and treatment guidelines in 2019. However, there are insufficient data on the proportion of SVR acquired in Vosevi treated DAAs-experienced patients in Asian populations and the effectivity of antiviral therapy between Vosevi and Sofosbuvir/Velpatasvir combined with ribavirin. In the present study, the investigators enroll DAAs-experienced hepatitis C patients. The participants are randomly divided into two groups. Then the participants are treated with Vosevi or Sofosbuvir/Velpatasvir combined with ribavirin respectively. All enrolled participants are followed-up for 3 years. Objectives of the present study are as follows: A. To clarify the sustained virologic response rate after Vosevi therapy for DAAs-experienced patients. B. To clarify the safety and efficacy between the Vosevi therapy and the Sofosbuvir/Velpatasvir combined with ribavirin therapy. C. To clarify the changes of biochemistry indexes in DAAs-experienced patients after Vosevi therapy. D. To clarify the virological relapse rate at 12 weeks after Vosevi therapy. E. To clarify the rate of cirrhosis and liver cancer during the follow-up.

Enhancing Access to Care for Chronic Hepatitis C Infected Populations in Hong Kong

In the current era of highly effective direct acting antiviral (DAA) therapy, the remaining obstacles to elimination of chronic HCV infection are identification of the high-risk groups, linkage to continued care and prevention of re-infection. It is estimated that 70-80% of patients with chronic HCV are unaware of their infection. Besides, public health education is limited and most patients are not aware that the current standard-of-care is highly effective, well tolerated and no longer require weekly subcutaneous injections. From a survey in Hong Kong in 2014, among 234 newly diagnosed HCV patients, only 20% agreed to undergo treatment. There is no universal screening programme for chronic hepatitis C infection in Hong Kong. and known high-risk patients include people who inject drugs (PWID), persons with certain medical conditions including those on hemodialysis, HIV infected, those with prior transfusion or organ transplantation. In this study, the investigators plan to reach out to PWIDs, people with substance abuse or prison inmates to provide rapid point-of-care screening for chronic hepatitis C infection, and to provide linkage to care for those diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C.