A minimal monitoring approach for the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection (ACTG A5360 [MINMON]): a phase 4, open-label, single-arm trial.

Abstract

Background

Despite widespread availability of direct-acting antivirals including generic formulations, limited progress has been made in the global adoption of hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment. Barriers to treatment scale-up include availability and access to diagnostic and monitoring tests, health-care infrastructure, and requirement for frequent visits during treatment.

Methods

ACTG A5360 was a phase 4, open-label, single-arm trial across 38 sites in Brazil, South Africa, Thailand, Uganda, and the USA. Key inclusion criteria were age of 18 years or older, evidence of active HCV infection (HCV RNA >1000 IU/mL) and HCV treatment-naive; patients with compensated cirrhosis and HIV/HCV co-infection were included but their enrolment was capped. All participants received a fixed dose combination of oral sofosbuvir (400 mg) and velpatasvir (100 mg) once daily for 12 weeks. The minimal monitoring (MINMON) approach consisted of four components: (1) there was no pre-treatment genotyping; (2) the entire treatment course (84 tablets) was dispensed at entry; (3) there were no scheduled visits or laboratory monitoring; and (4) there were two points of remote contact, at week 4 for adherence and week 22, to schedule outcome assessment at week 24 (-2 weeks to +4 weeks). Participants who missed the week 24 window could return for a visit to assess treatment response any time before week 72. Unplanned visits for any reason were permissible before the week 24 visit. The primary efficacy outcome was sustained virological response (SVR), defined as HCV RNA less than the lower limit of quantification measured at least 22 weeks post-treatment initiation; the primary safety outcome was serious adverse events. The primary efficacy analysis included all participants who initiated treatment, using a missing=failure approach. The primary safety analysis included all participants who initiated treatment and had at least one post-treatment assessment. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03512210.

Findings

Between Oct 22, 2018, and July 19, 2019, 400 participants were enrolled across all 38 sites; 399 initiated treatment. At the SVR assessment visit, 355 (89%) of 397 participants reported taking 100% of the trial medication during the 12-week treatment period; two patients did not have any follow-up visits after the entry visit and were excluded from the safety analyses. Overall, 379 of the 399 who initiated treatment had an SVR (95·0%, 95% CI 92·4-96·7). 14 (4%) of 397 participants reported serious adverse events between treatment initiation and week 28; none were treatment related or led to treatment discontinuation or death. 15 (4%) of 399 participants had unplanned visits; none were related to treatment.

Interpretation

In this diverse global population of people with HCV, the MINMON approach with sofosbuvir-velpatasvir treatment was safe and achieved SVR comparable to standard monitoring observed in real-world data. Coupled with innovative case finding strategies, this strategy could be crucial to the global HCV elimination agenda.

Funding

US National Institutes of Health and Gilead Sciences.

Department

Description

Provenance

Citation

Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.1016/s2468-1253(21)00397-6

Publication Info

Solomon, Sunil S, Sandra Wagner-Cardoso, Laura Smeaton, Leonard A Sowah, Chanelle Wimbish, Gregory Robbins, Irena Brates, Christine Scello, et al. (2022). A minimal monitoring approach for the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection (ACTG A5360 [MINMON]): a phase 4, open-label, single-arm trial. The lancet. Gastroenterology & hepatology, 7(4). pp. 307–317. 10.1016/s2468-1253(21)00397-6 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/26425.

This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.

Scholars@Duke

Naggie

Susanna Naggie

Professor of Medicine

Dr. Susanna Naggie completed her undergraduate degrees in chemical engineering and biochemistry at the University of Maryland, College Park, and her medical education at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She conducted her internal medicine and infectious diseases fellowship training at Duke University Medical Center, where she also served as Chief Resident. She joined the faculty in the Duke School of Medicine in 2009. She is a Professor of Medicine and currently holds appointments at the Duke University School of Medicine, at the Duke Clinical Research Institute, and at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Dr. Naggie is a clinical investigator with a focus in clinical trials in infectious diseases and translational research in HIV and liver disease. She is a standing member of the DHHS Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents and the CDC/NIH/IDSA-HIVMA Opportunistic Infections Guideline. She is the Vice Dean for Clinical and Translational Research and Director for the Duke Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute.


Unless otherwise indicated, scholarly articles published by Duke faculty members are made available here with a CC-BY-NC (Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial) license, as enabled by the Duke Open Access Policy. If you wish to use the materials in ways not already permitted under CC-BY-NC, please consult the copyright owner. Other materials are made available here through the author’s grant of a non-exclusive license to make their work openly accessible.