AbbVie a global biopharmaceutical company, announced its New Drug Application (NDA) has been accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a once-daily, fixed-dose formulation of the components of VIEKIRA PAK (ombitasvir, paritaprevir, and ritonavir tablets; dasabuvir tablets). VIEKIRA PAK is an all-oral, interferon-free treatment approved with or without ribavirin (RBV) in the United States for patients with genotype 1 (GT1) chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, including those with compensated cirrhosis. VIEKIRA PAK is not for people with decompensated cirrhosis.
The proposed dosing for the fixed-dose formulation (dasabuvir, ombitasvir, paritaprevir, ritonavir tablets) is three oral tablets once daily with a meal, with or without twice-daily RBV, potentially offering another important treatment option for people living with GT1 HCV. The NDA filing is supported by data from two bioavailability studies. Currently, VIEKIRA PAK is taken twice daily as three tablets in the morning and one tablet in the evening, taken with a meal.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in the United States, approximately 2.7 million people are chronically infected with HCV. Genotype 1 is the most prevalent form of HCV in the U.S., accounting for approximately 74 percent of all cases. Hepatitis C is inflammation of the liver caused by an infection with HCV. It is transmitted when an infected person's blood enters the bloodstream of an uninfected person. There are six major HCV genotypes (GT1-6). Presently, there is no vaccine for HCV infection.
