Anadys Hepatitis C Drug Shows Potent Effect in Small Study
Summary
Anadys’ lead drug candidate, ANA598, was able to wipe out more than 99 percent of the hepatitis C virus at all three doses tested in a trial of 35 patients, according to data presented today at the European Association for the Study of the Liver meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark.No patients had any serious side effects, and none showed signs of developing resistance to the drug or having their virus bounce back while taking the pill twice-daily over three days.“The potent antiviral activity demonstrated at all three doses in this study is very encouraging for the prospects of ANA598 when used in combination with other HCV agents,” said Anadys CEO Steve Worland, in a statement.Anadys has been on a roll since January, when the company offered an initial peek at data that said ANA598 was working in the first cohort of patients who got the lowest dose, 200 milligrams twice a day.That’s because more than 170 million people worldwide have hepatitis C infections, and Anadys is part of a burgeoning wave of innovation in the biotech industry to treat this liver-damaging disease.