The Australian Trial in Acute Hepatitis C (ATAHC) enrolled 167 individuals with acute and early chronic HCV infection and demonstrated that hepatitis C treatment was both feasible and successful in the majority of individuals.

DARE-C I was established in 2013 aiming to evaluate the role of triple, short course, response guided therapy with TVR, PEG and RBV for recently acquired HCV infection in GT 1 subjects (duration of infection: 6-18 months). This sub-study will include an individualised strategy of the following design with the anticipation that most patients will receive short course therapy. The study will examine viral kinetics, clearance and toxicity in a subset of 20 patients eligible for TVR based therapy.

Uncertainty remains however regarding the optimal treatment regimen in this population. In chronic hepatitis C therapeutic management, treatment is increasingly individualised.

Duration of therapy is based on an individual’s early virological response to treatment and the timing of when an individual’s HCV RNA first becomes undetectable.

In addition the use of novel antiviral agents active against HCV, including the protease inhibitor Telaprevir, are now moving into standard clinical practice for genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C patients, enhancing treatment efficacy.

In ATAHC II the strategy of response guided therapy in acute and recently acquired HCV infection is being evaluated. DARE-C will evaluate a similar response guided strategy involving the use of triple therapy with Telaprevir in a subset of ATAHC II subjects.

Timeline

Established 2013.