Achillion Announces Additional Proof-of-Concept Data With ACH-2684 for the Treatment of Hepatitis C

Achillion Announces Additional Proof-of-Concept Data With ACH-2684 for the Treatment of Hepatitis C: Achieves Up to 3.73 log10 Reduction in Genotype 1 HCV RNA After Three Days of Treatment With Once-Daily 400 mg ACH-2684 in Phase 1b Study : Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:ACHN) today reported...

Achillion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. reported proof-of-concept data from a Phase 1b clinical trial demonstrating that patients with chronic hepatitis C (HCV) genotype 1 (GT 1) treated with ACH-2684 (see below structure), a second-generation protease inhibitor, achieved a mean maximum 3.73 log10 reduction in HCV RNA after three-day 400 mg monotherapy with once-daily (QD) dosing. The compound also demonstrated good safety and tolerability both in healthy volunteers and in patients with HCV.

 "We believe ACH-2684, with its potent antiviral activity achieved without boosting and once-daily dosing, is one of the most intriguing protease inhibitors in clinical development for the treatment of HCV,"...

New class of drugs for hepatitis C .....

Eiger BioPharmaceuticals, Inc., has come up with a novel class of compounds as HCV Inhibitors. The  research validates a domain, termed 4BAH2, within the non-structural protein (NS4B) of the HCV genome, as essential for HCV replication and describes the development of a high-throughput screen leading to the identification of small molecule inhibitors of 4BAH2.

 Interestingly, the researchers claims that 4BAH2 is the second new domain within NS4B now proven necessary and essential for HCV replication, and which has been shown to be susceptible to pharmacologic inhibition.  Eiger is developing small molecule inhibitors of both NS4B-RNA binding and small molecule inhibitors of NS4B-AH2, each of which has significant activity alone and significant synergy when combined. The researchers have tried the following two compounds (a pyrazolopyrimidine derivative and an amiloride derivative see the below structures). Mechanistic studies reveal that the inhibitors target 4BAH2 function by preventing either 4BAH2 oligomerization or 4BAH2 membrane association. 4BAH2 inhibitors represent an additional class of compounds with potential to effectively treat HCV.

The researchers  claims that like AIDS and tuberculosis, future effective therapy for HCV is expected to require a cocktail of several independent classes of drugs, each designed against a different viral target.

Eiger is focused on the discovery and development of new antiviral agents  against novel targets for the treatment of hepatitis virus infections. Eiger's pipeline includes repurposed clinical stage therapeutic agents as well as preclinical NCEs from discovery that exhibit antiviral activity against Hepatitis C, Hepatitis D, and other viruses.

Ref : http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/2/15/15ra6.abstract