Roche moves hepatitis drug to new mid-stage trial
(Adds more details)
ZURICH, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX) says it has moved its investigational hepatitis C drug R1626 into a new mid-stage trial after it showed promising results in combination with two of its other medicines.
Roche said on Friday the hepatitis C virus could no longer be detected in up to 81 percent of patients after four weeks of treatment with R1626, in combination with Pegasys and Copegus.
Based on the results of the Phase IIa study, Roche will move R1626 into a Phase IIb trial.
In a separate statement on Friday Roche also said a Pegasus and Copegus combination had shown benefits in patients who did not respond to initial treatment with Schering Plough Corp's SGP.N Pegintron.
((Reporting by Sam Cage, editing by Greg Mahlich;
e-mail: zurich.newsroom@reuters.com;
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telephone: +41 (0) 44 631 7457)) Keywords: ROCHE HEPATITIS/
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