InterMune's Infergen subject of three independent investigator studies; results positive

By Angela McDaniels

Seattle, Nov. 14 - InterMune Inc. said it has clinical data with positive results from three separate investigator studies evaluating the use of daily Infergen in combination with ribavirin for the treatment of patients infected with hepatitis C virus who failed to adequately respond to first line therapy of pegylated interferon plus ribavirin.

Kevin Chen of Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill., led a study in which 76 patients received 15 microgram of Infergen plus ribavirin for 48 weeks.

At the conclusion of the study, 72% of patients were hepatitis C-negative, the company said.

A study lead by Kenneth Rothstein of Albert Einstein Medical Center is Philadelphia included 32 patients given a daily dose of 27 micrograms of Infergen plus ribavirin for four weeks and 18 micrograms of the daily Infergen plus ribavirin for the next eight weeks.

At 12 weeks, 63% of patients showed a viral response. This study included patients with advanced liver disease, lowering the overall expected sustained viral response, the company said.

Reem Ghalib of the Liver Institute at Methodist Dallas Medical Center led a study which included 27 patients.

Twelve weeks of 15 micrograms of Infergen plus ribavirin given daily resulted in an early viral response in 77% of patients, the company said.

The findings were presented at the 56th annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases in San Francisco.

Infergen is currently approved for the treatment of chronic HCV infection in patients when administered three times weekly, the company said.

InterMune is a Brisbane, Calif.-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of therapies in pulmonology and hepatology.

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