New generation of interferon treatment helps hepatitis C

BOSTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) -- Two industry-sponsored studies in this week's New England Journal of Medicine have found that a new longer-acting form of interferon is far more effective than regular interferon for blocking the virus responsible for chronic hepatitis C.

In tests on hundreds of patients, both teams of researchers found that more people who were given weekly injections of peginterferon alfa-2a responded better to the treatment than volunteers given the older, shorter-acting form known as interferon alfa-2a.

Hepatitis C infects an estimated 2.7 million people, many of whom do not know they have the virus. The disease attacks the liver.

Even when a doctor identified it, patients were often not treated "because the best current medical therapy is expensive, complex, relatively ineffective and fraught with side effects," such as fatigue, headache and depression, Drs. Daniel F. Schafer and Michael F. Sorrel, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said in an editorial in the Journal.

Researchers modified interferon alfa-2a by adding a molecule of polyethylene glycol, a gelatinous compound used to thicken food. Scientists hoped it would keep the interferon in the body longer.

The larger study, led by Dr. Stefan Zeuzem of the Klinikum der Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, found that 69 percent of the 267 patients given peginterferon were responding after 48 weeks, compared to just 28 percent of the 264 interferon recipients. Both groups suffered the same side effects.

Six of the 12 researchers in the study were employed by Hoffmann-LaRoche, which makes both drugs, or had other financial ties to the company.

At least one other company has also developed a version of peginterferon.

The second study looked at patients with both hepatitis C and cirrhosis of the liver. Dr. Jenny Heathcote of Toronto Western Hospital, who was involved in the first study, led the team involved in the second study.

The researchers found that weekly injections of peginterferon were more effective than plain interferon.

In the Heathcote study, 10 of the 12 authors had ties to Hoffmann-LaRoche, the U.S. arm of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche Holding AG.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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