Hepatitis

LAS VEGAS - Nearly 40,000 people learned this week that a trip to the doctor may have made them sick. In a type of scandal more often associated with Third World countries, a Las Vegas clinic was found to be reusing syringes and vials of medication for nearly four years. The shoddy practices may have led to an outbreak of the potentially fatal hepatitis C virus and exposed patients to HIV, too. The discovery led to the biggest public health notification operation in US history, brought demands for investigations and caused scores of lawyers to seek out patients at risk...

ATLANTA - For the first time, the government is proposing that all baby boomers get tested for hepatitis C. Anyone born from 1945 to 1965 should get a one-time blood test to see if they have the liver-destroying virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in draft recommendations issued Friday. Baby boomers account for more than 2 million of the 3.2 million Americans infected with the blood-borne virus. It can take decades to cause liver damage, and many people don't know they are infected.

Dirty needles at a private clinic have been blamed for an outbreak of hepatitis C among kids in central China, underscoring the challenges of policing healthcare as clinics mushroom to meet growing demand. State media reported Tuesday that reuse of needles at a private clinic in Henan province's Maqiao township spread hepatitis C to at least 13 people, including many children. In the 1990s, Henan province was rocked by unsanitary blood plasma-buying schemes and tainted blood transfusions that allowed HIV to gain a foothold.

For the first time, the government is proposing that all baby boomers get tested for hepatitis C. Anyone born from 1945 to 1965 should get a one-time blood test to see if they have the liver-destroying virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in draft recommendations issued Friday. Baby boomers account for more than 2 million of the 3.2 million Americans infected with the blood-borne virus. It can take decades to cause liver damage, and many people don't know they're infected.

Millions of Americans are infected with hepatitis C, but it's estimated that no more than half are aware of their infection. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that those with risk factors such as a history of intravenous drug use or a blood transfusion before 1992 get screened. Researchers at the NORC at University of Chicago and elsewhere found that it may be cost-effective to screen everyone born between 1945 and 1965, the group with the highest infection rates.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. has licensed two potential hepatitis C drugs from Alios BioPharma Inc. Vertex said Monday that it plans to start human testing of the two drugs later this year. The company said the drugs, taken orally, appear to block an enzyme essential for replication of the hepatitis C virus. The virus can cause liver damage, cirrhosis, liver failure or cancer. The Food and Drug Administration approved Vertex’s hepatitis C drug Incivek in May. Incivek it is expected to become a leading treatment for the disease.

Two drugmakers said Thursday that a combination of experimental oral treatments for hepatitis C cured almost all patients in a midstage clinical trial. Gilead Sciences Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. have been developing an all-oral drug regimen that could work faster than current treatments. Their drug cocktail also excludes interferon, which is a standard part of hepatitis C treatment but can cause months of flulike symptoms for patients. The companies said a regimen that included Gilead's drug GS-7977 and Bristol-Myers' daclatasvir met its goals in a clinical study.

China says it is sending medical experts to investigate an outbreak of hepatitis C among more than 200 people in the southern province of Guangdong. Ministry of Health spokesman Deng Haihua said Monday that mistakes in medical procedures may have caused the infections in the province's Zijin county. Deng said strengthened preventative measures were ordered at clinics and hospitals in the area to prevent the further spread of the virus. Hepatitis C is spread primarily through blood and can lead to life-threatening liver damage.

CAMBRIDGE — Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. reported positive interim study data yesterday for its prospective hepatitis C drug, IDX-184. The company said a 100 milligram dose prompted antiviral activity after 14 days of treatment in patients during a midstage study. Previously, the company reported positive results from patients taking a 50 milligram dose of the drug and said it will move ahead with dosing on a 150 milligram version of the drug.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. fell the most in two months after an analyst with Leerink Swann & Co. cut sales predictions for the company's hepatitis C pill that was approved by U.S. regulators last year. Vertex's Incivek, among the first new hepatitis C drugs to reach the market in nearly a decade, could be eclipsed by new pill-only treatments with fewer side effects and shorter courses of treatment. Incivek is given with interferon, an injected medicine. Merck & Co.'s similar pill, Victrelis, was also approved last year.

A prominent former Las Vegas physician and state medical board member who operated clinics where health officials say patients became infected with hepatitis C in 2007 will face all 28 felony charges filed against him almost two years ago, a state court judge decided Thursday. Having lost a nearly two-year battle to show he is physically and mentally unfit for trial, Dipak Desai sat impassively in the courtroom while Clark County District Court Judge Valerie Adair ruled the grand jury indictment met statutory and constitutional requirements.

WASHINGTON - Irving Millman, a microbiologist who played an instrumental role in developing the hepatitis B vaccine, one of the most important medical advances of the latter 20th century and one that has saved millions of lives, died April 17 in Washington, D.C. He was 88. The cause was complications from internal bleeding, said his daughter Diane. Hepatitis B is an infectious virus that can lead to chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, and a deadly form of cancer. More than 1 billion people worldwide have received the vaccine since...

HIV drug maker Gilead Sciences Inc.'s profit dropped 32 percent in the first quarter on costs related to its purchase of hepatitis C drug developer Pharmasset Inc. Gilead said Thursday that its profit fell to $442 million, or 57 cents per share, from $651.1 million, or 80 cents per share. The company bought Pharmasset in January for $11.1 billion, and its results in the first quarter included $193.9 million, or 25 cents per share, in costs related to the deal. Excluding those charges and other one-time items, Gilead said it earned 91 cents per share.

BARCELONA - Johnson & Johnson's Janssen unit said it may explore widening cooperation on hepatitis C with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. that may develop in tandem with a separate partnership with Medivir AB on the disease. Vertex, based in Cambridge, Mass., has said it will start enrolling patients in a midstage study combining three medicines, excluding interferon, a core component of the current standard of care. Vertex and competitors including Gilead Sciences Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., and Abbott Laboratories are racing to develop next-generation treatments for...

Two drugmakers said Thursday that a combination of experimental oral treatments for hepatitis C cured almost all patients in a midstage clinical trial. Gilead Sciences Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. have been developing an all-oral drug regimen that could work faster than current treatments. Their drug cocktail also excludes interferon, which is a standard part of hepatitis C treatment but can cause months of flulike symptoms for patients. The companies said a regimen that included Gilead's drug GS-7977 and Bristol-Myers' daclatasvir met its goals in a clinical study.

Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. sank the most in eight months as investors speculated the Cambridge company's experimental hepatitis C treatment may face hurdles. The shares had tripled in the 12 months before Wednesday. Roche Holding reported an "unacceptable relapse rate" for patients on a combination of medicines that Brean Murray Carret & Co. analyst Brian Skorney called a "good surrogate for any oral combination that includes IDX184," Idenix's medicine. "We believe Idenix will need to explore regimens with durations of greater than 12 weeks to be effective," Skorney wrote.

SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc. climbed 21 percent after it reported quarterly earnings that, excluding some items, beat the average analyst estimate by 67 percent, according to Bloomberg data. The company's top product is Zadaxin, an approved treatment for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and certain cancers. SciClone forecast adjusted earnings of 72 to 78 cents per share for the year. "We assume Zadaxin sales growth of 18 percent in 2012," Cowen & Co. said in a client note.

China says it is sending medical experts to investigate an outbreak of hepatitis C among more than 200 people in the southern province of Guangdong. Ministry of Health spokesman Deng Haihua said Monday that mistakes in medical procedures may have caused the infections in the province's Zijin county. Deng said strengthened preventative measures were ordered at clinics and hospitals in the area to prevent the further spread of the virus. Hepatitis C is spread primarily through blood and can lead to life-threatening liver damage.