The Food and Drug Administration announced on July 18 the approval of Vosevi to treat adults with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes 1-6 without cirrhosis or with mild cirrhosis.
Vosevi is now the first treatment for patients who have been previously treated with the direct-acting antiviral drug sofosbuvir or other drugs for HCV that inhibit a protein called NS5A. The new drug is a fixed-dose, combination tablet containing sofosbuvir and velpatasvir (both approved before) and a new drug – voxilaprevir.
In two phase 3 clinical trials, 750 adults without cirrhosis or with mild cirrhosis were enrolled. The first trial compared 12 weeks of Vosevi treatment with placebo in adults with genotype 1 who had previously failed treatment with an NS5A inhibitor drug; those with genotypes 2-6 received Vosevi. The second trial compared 12 weeks of Vosevi with sofosbuvir and velpatasvir in adults with genotypes 1, 2, or 3 who had previously failed treatment with sofosbuvir but not an NS5A inhibitor drug. Results of both trials showed that 96%-97% of patients who received Vosevi had no virus detected in the blood 12 weeks after finishing treatment, indicating that patients’ infection had been cured.
It is noted that treatment recommendations for Vosevi are different depending on viral genotype and prior treatment history. Vosevi is contraindicated in patients taking the drug rifampin.
“Direct-acting antiviral drugs prevent the virus from multiplying and often cure HCV. Vosevi provides a treatment option for some patients who were not successfully treated with other HCV drugs in the past,” Edward Cox, MD, director of the Office of Antimicrobial Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a press release.
Read the full press release on the FDA’s website .
