Vaniprevir Administered With Pegylated-interferon and Ribavirin in Japanese Treatment-Naïve Chronic Hepatitis C Participants (MK-7009-043)

Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC294 enrolled

Overview

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of vaniprevir given in combination with pegylated interferon alfa-2b (peg-IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) versus treatment with peg-IFN and RBV alone in Japanese treatment-naïve participants with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) genotype (GT)1. The primary efficacy hypothesis is that the percentage of participants achieving sustained virologic response 24 weeks after completion of all study therapy (SVR24) in at least one of the vaniprevir arms is superior to the percentage of participants achieving SVR24 in the control arm.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Enrollment

294

Conditions

Hepatitis C, Chronic

Interventions

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 20 YearsMax age: 70 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion criteria: * Japanese participant diagnosed with compensated CHC GT 1 * Absence of ascites, bleeding esophageal varices, hepatic encephalopathy, or other signs or symptoms of advanced liver disease. * IFN treatment naive * No evidence of cirrhosis Exclusion criteria: * Co-infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) * Positive hepatitis B surface antigen or other evidence of active hepatitis B infection * Any other condition that is contraindicated or for which caution is required for treatment with peg-IFN or RBV * Any condition or pre-study laboratory abnormality, or history of any illness, that, in the opinion of the investigator, might confound the results of the study or pose additional risk in administering the study drugs, peg-IFN and RBV, to the participant.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Percentage of Participants Achieving Sustained Virologic Response 24 Weeks After Completion of All Study Therapy (SVR24)

SVR24 was defined as having an undetectable HCV RNA level 24 weeks after completion of all study therapy.

Time frame: 24 weeks after 24 or 48 weeks of study therapy (up to 72 weeks)

Percentage of Participants With One or More Tier 1 Adverse Events (AEs) During the Study

An adverse experience was defined as any unfavorable and unintended change in the structure, function, or chemistry of the body temporally associated with the use of the product, whether or not considered related to the use of the product. Any worsening (i.e., any clinically significant adverse change in frequency and/or intensity) of a preexisting condition which is temporally associated with the use of the product, was also an adverse experience. For this study, safety parameters or AEs of special interest that were identified a priori constituted "Tier 1" safety endpoints that were subject to inferential testing for statistical significance. Tier 1 AEs on this study included serious rash, anemia (anemia plus haemoglobin decreased), neutropenia (neutropenia plus neutrophil count decreased), bilirubin increased and gastrointestinal adverse (GI) experiences (vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea).

Time frame: From Day 1 (post-dose) through completion of Week 24 Follow-up (up to 72 weeks)

Percentage of Participants Who Discontinued Study Drug Due to an AE

Time frame: From Day 1 (post-dose) through completion of Week 24 Follow-up (up to 72 weeks)

Secondary Outcomes

Percentage of Participants Achieving SVR12

SVR12 was defined as having an undetectable HCV RNA level 12 weeks after completion of all study therapy.

Time frame: 12 weeks after 24 or 48 weeks of study therapy (up to 60 weeks)

Percentage of Participants Achieving Rapid Virologic Response (RVR)

RVR was defined as having an undetectable HCV RNA level at Week 4.

Time frame: At Week 4

Percentage of Participants Achieving Complete Early Virologic Response (cEVR)

cEVR was defined as having an undetectable HCV RNA level at Week 12.

Time frame: At Week 12

Percentage of Participants Achieving Undetectable HCV RNA at the End of Treatment (EOT)

Participants were assessed for undetectable HCV RNA levels at the end of all study therapy.

Time frame: At Week 24 or 48

Least Squares (LS) Mean Change From Baseline in HCV RNA (Log 10)

HCV RNA levels were assessed at baseline (BL) and during treatment weeks 2, 4, 8, 12, and 24 using the Roche TaqMan HCV assay, and transformed to Log 10 values. HCV RNA values below the limit of reliable quantification (LoQ) or the limit of detection (LoD) at any time point were handled as follows (imputations done for computational purposes): values below the LoQ but above the LoD were imputed with the LoQ minus 0.1; values below the LoD were imputed with the value of 0 Log IU/mL. HCV RNA levels below the LoD were considered "undetectable".

Time frame: Baseline, Week 2, Week 4, Week 8, Week 12, Week 24