Catherine Kolonko

Novel second-generation HIV-1 maturation inhibitor shows favorable antiviral activity and safety profile in HIV-1, subtype B-infected subjects

A high dose of rifampin and moxifloxacin in combination with standard drug treatment could cut the length of time needed to successfully treat patients for tuberculosis.

Disappointing study results showed that precoital vaginal gel containing tenofovir does not prevent HIV acquisition in women, in part because of poor adherence during the clinical trial.

The high cure rate associated with new drugs approved to treat chronic hepatitis C has stirred debate about the relevance of early diagnosis and treatment of the acute stage of this infectious liver disease.

The future of HIV treatment may include decentralized testing and self-testing, treatment optimization, improved diagnostics, home-delivered antiretroviral therapy, and other advances.

Today, there are multiple combinations of interferon-free treatments that have efficacy rates of 90% or higher and are better tolerated with fewer severe side effects than previous interferon-based therapies.

Favipiravir, an experimental drug to treat the deadly Ebola virus, appeared to help some patients in Guinea with the disease but not others, according to results of the trial released at the 2015 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections held this week in Seattle.

The Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa led to a decline in the number of people seeking general outpatient services and as a result caused a drop in HIV testing and enrollment of new patients who are HIV positive, a new study suggests.

A clinical trial conducted by drug maker AbbVie resulted in a 95% cure rate of hepatitis C among Japanese patients who were treated with an all-oral, interferon-free combination drug, the company announced.

Following similar approvals in the United States and Canada, AbbVie has been granted marketing authorization by the European Commission for an all-oral, interferon-free combination drug for the treatment of genotypes 1 and 4 chronic hepatitis C infection.

If all goes as planned, Merck will soon take a major step forward in the hot pursuit among pharmaceutical companies to produce a newer, better, faster-working drug to treat the millions of people who have chronic hepatitis C infection.

The spread of hepatitis C infection through the health care system continues to be a public health concern and is the subject of a review study that appeared in the December 14 issue of World Journal of Gastroenterology.

The battle over prescription exclusivity of new hepatitis C drugs continued recently when CVS Caremark revealed a new agreement with drug maker Gilead Sciences to list only Harvoni and Sovaldi on its formularies.

Express Scripts has dropped Solvaldi, Harvoni, and Olysio in favor of an exclusive deal with the drug maker AbbVie Inc. to prescribe its newly approved hepatitis C drug called Viekira Pak, according to a statement from the prescription drug-benefits management company.

Hepatitis C does not contribute to mental impairment in patients who are coinfected with HIV when there is an absence of substantial liver damage, according to a study published online in the journal Neurology.

Recent updates of guidelines for the treatment of Hepatitis C recommends priority to the sickest patients with advanced fibrosis, compensated cirrhosis or those in need of a liver transplant.

A committee for the European Medicines Agency has recommended approval for a hepatitis C drug combination, a key step to winning European marketing authorization for the drug maker AbbVie. The recommendation for marketing authorization is for AbbVie's investigational drug named Exviera (dasabuvir) and Viekirax (ombitasvir, paritaprevir and ritonavir) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection in combination with other medicine.

The US Food and Drug Administration recently rejected a bid by Bristol-Myers Squibb to win regulatory approval for its hepatitis C drug daclatasvir, pending further information requested in a Complete Response Letter issued by the agency.

Researchers have found that maintenance treatment with methadone or buprenorphine may help prevent hepatitis C infection among injection drug users, a population with the highest risk of infection of the virus.

The maker of Sovriad (simeprevir) has revised the drug's package insert labeling on the order of Japanese health officials following the deaths of three people who took the hepatitis C drug.

Patients with cirrhosis who took part in a study that tested a triple combination drug for hepatitis C with ribavirin saw normalization of key laboratory tests after three and six month treatment periods, an indication of improved liver condition.

Researchers have found that maintenance treatment with methadone or buprenorphine may help prevent hepatitis C infection among injection drug users, a population with the highest risk of infection of the virus.

A new clinical trial in children is set to begin that will test the blockbuster hepatitis C drug Sovaldi in combination with ribavirin as part of an all-oral regimen.

The US FDA last week approved the combo drug (trade name: Harvoni) for use in the US.

In a somewhat bittersweet result for drugmaker Janssen, a United Kingdom health agency has recommended funding its hepatitis C drug for some patients but not for others.

Increased prevalence of hepatitis C infection among the nation's young is the subject of a new federally funded study underway in New Mexico.

A generic version of Gilead Science's hepatitis C drug Sovaldi will be produced in India and sold there and in other poorer countries at what is likely to be a fraction of what it costs in the United States.

Review by a German commission also found major benefits in patients who had not responded to prior treatment with other medications.

The European Commission (EU) has granted Bristol-Myers Squibb's Daklinza (daclatasvir) approval for an all-oral drug regimen for the treatment of four genotypes of chronic hepatitis C infection.

Surgeons transplanted a kidney from a donor who had hepatitis C to a recipient who also has the disease in what is believed to be the first of its kind in the state of Utah.