Vertex hepatitis C drug shows patient benefit

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge said today that patients who previously failed on a common hepatitis C drug regimen responded when the company's telaprevir was added.

In an interim analysis of a section of mid-stage study participants, 115 previously treated patients were given telaprevir plus two standard hepatitis C drugs, Pegasys and ribavirin, for 12 weeks, followed by only Pegasys and ribavirin for another 12 weeks.

Vertex said that 12 weeks after treatment was completed, 52 percent of patients showed no signs of hepatitis C in their systems. After 36 weeks of taking only Pegasys and ribavirin, 30 percent of patients showed no signs of the virus.

Vertex and its partner, Tibotec, said they plan to start a late-stage trial of telaprevir in patients who failed prior treatment. Telaprevir is already in late-stage development in patients who have had no prior treatment.

Vertex shares rose 52 cents to $32.76 in morning trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market. (AP)