NEW YORK -- Abbott Laboratories says its experimental hepatitis C drug regimen cured 99 per cent of patients with the most common and hardest-to-treat type of the disease in a midstage study.
Abbott says 99 per cent of patients who took its three-drug regimen and the drugs Ritonavair and ribavirin had undetectable virus levels after 12 weeks of treatment. The company says it observed a 93 per cent cure rate in a group of patients who were not helped by other treatments.
Patients in the trial had genotype 1 hepatitis C, which is the most common type in the Western world and the hardest to treat. The regimen did not include interferon, a standard component of hepatitis C therapy that causes severe side effects.
Abbott shares gained $2.63, or 3.8 per cent, to $71.91 in midday trading.
