Ethel D Weld1,2, Jacqueline Astemborski2, Gregory D Kirk2,3, Mark S Sulkowski2, Stephanie Katz2, Richard Rothman4, Sunil S Solomon2, Gail V Matthews5, Yu Hsiang Hsieh4, Malvika Verma6, Giovanni Traverso7,8, Susan Swindells9, Andrew Owen10, Jordan Feld11, Charles Flexner1,2, Shruti H Mehta3, David L Thomas2. 1. Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. 2. Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. 3. Department of Epidemiology, Division of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. 4. Department of Emergency Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. 5. The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. 6. Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. 7. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. 8. Division of Gastroenterology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 9. Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, The University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA. 10. Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Centre of Excellence in Long acting Therapeutics (CELT), University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdomand. 11. The Toronto Centre for Liver Disease, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Whereas safe, curative treatments for hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been available since 2015, there are still 58 million infected persons worldwide, and global elimination may require new paradigms. We sought to understand the acceptability of approaches to long-acting HCV treatment. METHODS: A cross-sectional, 43-question survey was administered to 1457 individuals with or at risk of HCV at 28 sites in 9 countries to assess comparative interest in a variety of long-acting strategies in comparison with oral pills. RESULTS: Among HCV-positive participants, 37.7% most preferred an injection, 5.6% an implant, and 6% a gastric residence device, as compared with 50.8% who stated they would most prefer taking 1-3 pills per day. When compared directly to taking pills, differences were observed in the relative preference for an injection based on age (P<.001), location (P<.001), and prior receipt of HCV treatment (P=.005) but not sex. When an implant was compared with pills, greater preference was represented by women (P=.01) and adults of younger ages (P=.01 per 5 years). Among participants without HCV, 49.5% believed that injections are stronger than pills and 34.7% preferred taking injections to pills. Among those at-risk participants who had received injectable medications in the past, 123 of 137 (89.8%) expressed willingness to receive one in the future. CONCLUSIONS: These data point to high acceptability of long-acting treatments, which for a substantial minority might even be preferred to pills for the treatment of HCV infection. Long-acting treatments for HCV infection might contribute to global efforts to eliminate hepatitis C.
BACKGROUND: Whereas safe, curative treatments for hepatitis C virus (HCV) have been available since 2015, there are still 58 million infected persons worldwide, and global elimination may require new paradigms. We sought to understand the acceptability of approaches to long-acting HCV treatment. METHODS: A cross-sectional, 43-question survey was administered to 1457 individuals with or at risk of HCV at 28 sites in 9 countries to assess comparative interest in a variety of long-acting strategies in comparison with oral pills. RESULTS: Among HCV-positive participants, 37.7% most preferred an injection, 5.6% an implant, and 6% a gastric residence device, as compared with 50.8% who stated they would most prefer taking 1-3 pills per day. When compared directly to taking pills, differences were observed in the relative preference for an injection based on age (P<.001), location (P<.001), and prior receipt of HCV treatment (P=.005) but not sex. When an implant was compared with pills, greater preference was represented by women (P=.01) and adults of younger ages (P=.01 per 5 years). Among participants without HCV, 49.5% believed that injections are stronger than pills and 34.7% preferred taking injections to pills. Among those at-risk participants who had received injectable medications in the past, 123 of 137 (89.8%) expressed willingness to receive one in the future. CONCLUSIONS: These data point to high acceptability of long-acting treatments, which for a substantial minority might even be preferred to pills for the treatment of HCV infection. Long-acting treatments for HCV infection might contribute to global efforts to eliminate hepatitis C.
Authors: Yu-Hsiang Hsieh; Richard E Rothman; Oliver B Laeyendecker; Gabor D Kelen; Ama Avornu; Eshan U Patel; Jim Kim; Risha Irvin; David L Thomas; Thomas C Quinn Journal: Clin Infect Dis Date: 2016-02-21 Impact factor: 9.079
Authors: Jordan J Feld; Ira M Jacobson; Christophe Hézode; Tarik Asselah; Peter J Ruane; Norbert Gruener; Armand Abergel; Alessandra Mangia; Ching-Lung Lai; Henry L Y Chan; Francesco Mazzotta; Christophe Moreno; Eric Yoshida; Stephen D Shafran; William J Towner; Tram T Tran; John McNally; Anu Osinusi; Evguenia Svarovskaia; Yanni Zhu; Diana M Brainard; John G McHutchison; Kosh Agarwal; Stefan Zeuzem Journal: N Engl J Med Date: 2015-11-16 Impact factor: 91.245