I couldn't bring the link up but as a geno 2, I'm glad not to be doing teleprivir.
And with genotype 2 doing so well with the new oral treatment, why do the triple therapy?
Hi desrt, this was on the expert commentary part... Hope all is well.
Use of Telaprevir in Genotype 2 or 3 HCV—Not Likely
Mitchell L. Shiffman, MD
Posting Date: December 13, 2011
Director, Liver Institute of Virginia
Bon Secours Virginia Health System
Richmond and Newport News, Virginia
Telaprevir works very effectively against hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection, and a wealth of data support this fact.[1-5] By contrast, there are very few data about the efficacy of telaprevir in HCV genotypes 2 and 3, particularly in combination with peginterferon/ribavirin.
To shed light on this issue, Foster and colleagues[6] conducted a randomized phase IIa study in patients chronically infected with HCV genotype 2 or 3 to determine whether the addition of telaprevir to peginterferon/ribavirin enhanced the rates of sustained virologic response (SVR).[6] In total, 26 patients with HCV genotype 2 (23 were treated) and 26 patients with HCV genotype 3 infection were randomly assigned to receive 15 days of telaprevir, telaprevir plus peginterferon/ribavirin, or peginterferon/ribavirin, all followed by peginterferon/ribavirin for 22-24 weeks.
Unfortunately, the results of this study were somewhat disappointing. There was additive efficacy with telaprevir in patients with HCV genotype 2 infection. For example, the kinetics of virologic suppression occurred earlier and was deeper with the addition of telaprevir to peginterferon/ribavirin vs peginterferon/ribavirin alone (eg, median HCV RNA change at Day 3: -4.03 vs -2.04 log10 IU/mL; median HCV RNA change at Day 15: -5.51 vs -4.83 log10 IU/mL). All 5 patients who received telaprevir/peginterferon/ribavirin triple therapy attained SVR compared with 8 of 9 patients assigned to peginterferon/ribavirin control (100% vs 89%). One must recognize, however, that infection with HCV genotype 2 has the highest cure rate of all HCV genotypes when treated with peginterferon/ribavirin. Thus, despite having some antiviral activity against this type of HCV, the addition of telaprevir to peginterferon/ribavirin really has very little impact on overall SVR in this patient population.