Background: Use of interferon and ribavirin to treat chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in kidney transplant recipients is limited because of the risk for allograft rejection and poor tolerability.
Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the interferon- and ribavirin-free regimen ledipasvir-sofosbuvir in kidney transplant recipients with chronic genotype 1 or 4 HCV infection.
Design: Randomized, phase 2, open-label study. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02251717).
Setting: 5 sites in Europe.
Patients: Treatment-naive or -experienced kidney transplant recipients with chronic genotype 1 or 4 HCV infection, with or without compensated cirrhosis, and with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of 40 mL/min or greater were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive ledipasvir (90 mg) and sofosbuvir (400 mg) for 12 or 24 weeks.
Measurements: The primary end point was sustained virologic response at 12 weeks after therapy ended (SVR12).
Results: Among 114 patients, the median age was 53 years, 58% were male, 91% had genotype 1 infection, 69% were treatment naive, and 15% had compensated cirrhosis. The median eGFR was 56 mL/min (range, 35 to 135 mL/min). One hundred percent of patients (57 of 57) treated for 12 weeks (95% CI, 94% to 100%) and 100% of those (57 of 57) treated for 24 weeks (CI, 94% to 100%) achieved SVR12. Serious adverse events were reported in 13 patients (11%). Of these, 3 events-syncope, pulmonary embolism, and serum creatinine increase-in 3 patients were determined to be treatment related. One patient permanently discontinued treatment because of an adverse event (syncope). The most frequent adverse events overall were headache (n = 22 [19%]), asthenia (n = 16 [14%]), and fatigue (n = 11 [10%]).
Limitations: The study was open label, no inferential statistics were planned, and only patients with genotype 1 or 4 infection were included. Few patients with HCV genotype 1a and cirrhosis were enrolled.
Conclusion: Treatment with ledipasvir-sofosbuvir for 12 or 24 weeks was well-tolerated and seemed to have an acceptable safety profile among kidney transplant recipients with HCV genotype 1 or 4 infection, all of whom achieved SVR12.
Primary funding source: Gilead Sciences.