Side affects and cure rate with Sovaldi, Olysio, and Ribavarin

[thill5161]

My husband is geno type 1B, viral load over 3 million, stage 2/3 liver scarring.  5 years ago he went through 17 months of Interferon and Ribavarin (viral load at that time was 4 million, stage 1/2.  The HCV virus was still detectable at his 6 month check up after treatment, but his liver enzymes were in normal range.  He was recently feeling tired and decided it was time to get checked again, and lo and behold the dragon is back in full swing.  The interferon almost killed him before and the dr. said he is not a good candidate to try again so they prescribed Sovaldi, Olysio and Ribavarin for 12 weeks.  He has a wonderful dr who was able to get our insurance to approve the off label treatment.  He is only 1 full week into treatment and has had only minor side affects- slight headache, and some brain fog in the evening.  I've been reading that people who failed with interferon and ribavirin before don't achieve the results of someone who has never gone through treatment.  Is that correct, and what should we really be expecting? He keeps waiting for these "major" side affects to surface but so far so good. We are just scared and hoping for a "real" cure this time.

[HectorSF]

EASL 2014: Final Data from the Phase 2 COSMOS Study of Janssen’s Once-Daily Simeprevir in Combination with Sofosbuvir Presented at the International Liver Congress™ 2014 of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL)

Final Phase 2 Data from the Interferon-free COSMOS Study

Cohort 2

Genotype 1 treatment-naïve and prior null-responder HCV patients

"Final results from cohort 2 of the Phase 2 COSMOS study demonstrated that 93 percent of patients with genotype 1 HCV and advanced liver fibrosis (METAVIR scores F3 and F4) who were treated with simeprevir and sofosbuvir for 12 weeks achieved sustained virologic response 12 weeks after the end of treatment (SVR12). The addition of ribavirin did not improve SVR rates and consistent responses for both treatment arms were seen across HCV genotype subgroups after 12 weeks."

"I've been reading that people who failed with interferon and ribavirin before don't achieve the results of someone who has never gone through treatment. "

Not true.

"All patients with HCV genotype 1b achieved SVR12, regardless of treatment regimen or duration."

Genotype 1b HCV
Simeprevir/Sofosbuvir (%) = 100%
Simeprevir/Sofosbuvir + Ribavirin (%) = 100%

"Rapid virologic response (RVR, defined as undetectable HCV RNA at Week 4 of treatment) was not found to be predictive of achieving SVR. In patients receiving simeprevir and sofosbuvir alone for 12 weeks, 93 percent achieved SVR, while 57 percent achieved RVR. "

Side Effects

"The most common adverse events reported during the study were fatigue, headache, nausea, anemia, pruritus, dizziness, rash and photosensitivity. One patient discontinued treatment due to adverse events."

Hector

[can-do-man]

I agree with your doctor, interferon just didn't work with him. It's great your doctor is willing to go off label. His odds are very good that this time he will be cured. I would suggest he takes all his meds the full time and try to avoid any dose reductions for best results. Good luck to you both.