AASLD-Beyond Telaprevir and Boceprevir: New Treatments to be Discussed at the 2011 Hepatitis Debrief

AASLD-Beyond Telaprevir and Boceprevir: New Treatments to be Discussed at the 2011
Hepatitis Debrief

Telaprevir and Boceprevir, the first two direct-acting antiviral medications for hepatitis C, were approved earlier this year and several new hepatitis drugs are currently in clinical development. The rate of new drug development is expected to increase rapidly in the next 12 to 18 months, possibly involving multiple drugs with the goal of obtaining viral clearance and interferon free regimens. The Hepatitis Debrief is designed to rapidly synthesize and summarize the new data presented at The Liver Meeting® in such a way that the information will be meaningful and useful on a real-time basis.

This year's Hepatitis Debrief will be led by Dr. Gregory Everson, Director of the Section of Hepatology at the University of Colorado in Denver. After a successful debut in 2010, this second installment of the Hepatitis Debrief aims to continue to keep practitioners up to date on the latest developments in treating hepatitis. Therefore, Dr. Everson recommends that any care provider involved with the treatment of hepatitis B or hepatitis C attend the session; this includes nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and physicians themselves, as well as patients. The session was established last year with the intent of addressing concerns with the newly developed drugs Telaprevir and Boceprevir, both of which have since received FDA approval. This year's session will include an update on the latest findings involved with the newly approved drugs, as well as discussion of the "explosion of clinical trials of other new drugs that may be used in combination," Dr. Everson explains. "The drug pallet for hepatitis C treatment is rapidly expanding." Last year's focus was exclusively on Telaprevir and Boceprevir; this year the meeting "will also focus on the new therapies on the horizon that are currently in the early phases of clinical trials," according to Dr. Everson.

While not much can be said about the new drug treatments that are currently being developed at this point in time, Dr. Everson expects the Hepatitis Debrief to include early data on NSIA inhibitors, as well as information on combination treatments and new interferon regimens.

The session is intended to be a quick, 30-minute summary of the new data presented at The Liver Meeting®. Dr. Everson plans to design the program by reviewing accepted abstracts pertaining to clinical trials in the treatment of hepatitis C and categorize the new types of treatment into the following four program sections:

-update on Telaprevir and Boceprevir
-new triple therapy regimens
-combination drug protocols
-interferon and ribavirin free protocols

Click here for more information on this session, which is included as part of the Annual Meeting registration fee.