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Sofosbuvir/velpatasvir for patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection and compensated liver disease: real-world data in Taiwan

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Abstract

Background

Data regarding the real-world effectiveness and safety of sofosbuvir/velpatasvir (SOF/VEL) for East Asian patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and compensated liver disease are limited. We evaluated the performance of SOF/VEL for 12 weeks for HCV-infected patients with compensated liver disease in a large real-world cohort in Taiwan.

Methods

Between July 2019 and March 2020, 1880 HCV-infected patients with compensated liver disease who received SOF/VEL 400/100 mg once daily for 12 weeks were included at 15 academic centers in Taiwan. The sustained virologic response at off-treatment week 12 (SVR12) was assessed for evaluable (EP) and per-protocol populations (PP). The tolerance was also reported.

Results

The SVR12 rates by EP and PP analyses were 95.6% [1798 of 1880 patients; 95% confidence interval (CI) 94.6–96.5%] and 99.3% (1798 of 1811 patients; 95% CI 98.8–99.6%), respectively. Among 82 patients who failed to achieve SVR12, 13 (15.9%) were attributed to virologic failures. The SVR12 rates were comparable regardless of baseline characteristics. A total of 1859 (98.9%) patients completed 12-week SOF/VEL treatment. Four (0.2%) patients discontinued treatment due to adverse events (AEs). All patients with serious AEs or deaths were judged not related to SOF/VEL. The AEs occurring in ≥ 10% included headache (16.8%), fatigue (16.2%), nausea (11.8%), and insomnia (11.1%). Nine (0.5%) and 2 (0.1%) patients had grade 3 total bilirubin and alanine aminotransferase elevations.

Conclusions

SOF/VEL for 12 weeks is efficacious and well-tolerated by chronic HCV-infected patients with compensated liver disease in Taiwan.

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Data availability

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

Abbreviations

HCV:

Hepatitis C virus

HCC:

Hepatocellular carcinoma

IFN:

Interferon

DAA:

Direct acting antiviral

SOF:

Sofosbuvir

VEL:

Velpatasvir

SVR:

Sustained virologic response

HBV:

Hepatitis B virus

HIV:

Human immunodeficiency virus

FDC:

Fixed-dose combination

GT:

Genotype

DDI:

Drug–drug interaction

PI:

Protease inhibitor

LLOQ:

Lower limit of quantification

ULN:

Upper limit of normal

eGFR:

Estimated glomerular filtration rate

RNA:

Ribonucleic acid

DNA:

Deoxyribonucleic acid

AST:

Aspartate aminotransferase

ALT:

Alanine aminotransferase

FIB-4:

Fibrosis index based on 4 parameters

APRI:

Aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index

AE:

Adverse event

IQR:

Interquartile range

CI:

Confidence interval

RBV:

Ribavirin

RAS:

Resistance-associated substitution

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Hui-Ju Lin and Pin-Chin Huang for clinical data management; the 7th Core Lab of National Taiwan University Hospital and the 1st Common Laboratory of National Taiwan University Hospital, Yun-Lin Branch for instrumental and technical support.

Funding

The study was supported by Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (106-2314-B-002-138-MY3, 107-2314-B-002-038-MY2).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Conception and design: CHL and JHK. Analysis and interpretation of data: CHL. Drafting of the article: CHL and JHK. Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: CHL, PYC, JJC, CCL, WWS, KCT, CJL, CSH, KJH, SSY, CYP, MCT, WYK, CYC, YLS, YJF, CYC, PLL, JJH, PYS, CWT, CCH, CHC, YJH, HCL, CCC, FJL, TYH, and JHK. Final approval of the article: CHL, PYC, JJC, CCL, WWS, KCT, CJL, CSH, KJH, SSY, CYP, MCT, WYK, CYC, YLS, YJF, CYC, PLL, JJH, PYS, CWT, CCH, CHC, YJH, HCL, CCC, FJL, TYH, and JHK. Provision of study materials or patients: CHL, PYC, JJC, CCL, WWS, KCT, CJL, CSH, KJH, SSY, CYP, MCT, WYK, CYC, YLS, YJF, CYC, PLL, JJH, PYS, CWT, CCH, CHC, YJH, HCL, CCC, FJL, TYH, and JHK. Statistical expertise: CH Liu. Administrative, technical, or logistic support: CHL and JHK. Collection and assembly of data: CHL.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jia-Horng Kao.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

Chen-Hua Liu: advisory board for Abbvie, Gilead Sciences, Merck Sharp & Dohme; speaker’s bureau for Abbott, Abbvie, Gilead Sciences, Merck Sharp & Dohme; research grant from Abbvie, Gilead Science, Merck Sharp & Dohme. Sheng-Shun Yang: advisory board for Abbvie, Roche, Ipsen; speaker’s bureau for Abbvie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, Ipsen, Merck Sharp & Dohme. Chien-Ching Hung: advisory board for Abbvie, Gilead Sciences, ViiV Healthcare; speaker’s bureau for Gilead Sciences; research grant from Gilead Sciences, ViiV Healthcare, Merck Sharp & Dohme. Jia- Horng Kao: advisory board for Abbott, Abbvie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, Roche; speaker’s bureau for Abbott, Abbvie, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Novartis, and Roche. All other authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of each participating center (ID: 202007043RIND) and was conducted in accordance with the principles of Declaration of Helsinki in 1975.

Animal research

This was not an animal research.

Consent to participate

This was a retrospective study with clinical data collection, and the Research Ethics Committee of each participating center approved to waive the patient consent.

Consent to publish

All the authors consented the publish work.

Clinical trials registration

The was a retrospective observation study and was not a drug trial. There was no need for clinical trial registration.

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Supplementary Information

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12072_2021_10158_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Supplementary file1 Supplementary Figure 1. eGFR changes between baseline and SVR12 according to baseline CKD stage. (PDF 23 KB)

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Liu, CH., Chen, PY., Chen, JJ. et al. Sofosbuvir/velpatasvir for patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection and compensated liver disease: real-world data in Taiwan. Hepatol Int 15, 338–349 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12072-021-10158-x

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