An international effort known as HCV-TARGET, which observes how newly approved therapies for hepatitis C are used and managed in routine practice, has released its first North American data. The research, led jointly by Dr. David R. Nelson at the University of Florida and Dr. Michael W. Fried at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, suggests that the safety and efficacy of the antiviral drugs telaprevir and boceprevir are similar for patients taking the treatments in real-world settings to what was observed in clinical trials.
The evaluation of data available from November 2011 through April 2013, presented at the 48th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Amsterdam, found that anemia was the most relevant adverse event affecting clinical care and that patients with cirrhosis were at increased risk for treatment-related complications.
HCV-TARGET was created to inform the ongoing transformation of hepatitis C treatment and research. The HCV-TARGET model is rooted in the infrastructure and collaborative network developed through the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program, which is led by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. In addition to UNC and UF, HCV-TARGET includes 24 other CTSA-supported institutions among its 103 academic and community sites in 31 states, Puerto Rico, Canada and Europe. HCV-TARGET also partners with multiple industry sponsors, regulatory agencies and the patient advocacy community.
Read the full news release:
International consortium exploring long-term outcomes of treating hepatitis C releases first data
Related Resources
- HCV-TARGET Overview
- The HCV-TARGET Network as of April 2013
- HCV-TARGET April 2013 Interim Analysis Summary
Related Media Coverage
- MedPage Today, April 26, 2013: Anemia top side effect of HCV antivirals