J. G. McHutchison, E. J. Lawitz, M. L. Shiffman, AJ Muir, GW Galler, J McCone, L. M. Nyberg, W. M. Lee, R. H. Ghalib, E. R. Schiff, J. S. Galati, B. R. Bacon, M. N. Davis, P. Mukhopadhyay, K. Koury, S. Noviello, L. D. Pedicone, C. A. Brass, J. K. Albrecht and M. S. Sulkowski for the IDEAL Study Team, “Peginterferon alfa-2b or alfa-2a with Ribavirin for Treatment of Hepatitis C infection,” The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 361, No. 6, 2009, pp. 580-593.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa0808010

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: Improved Sustained Virological Response Following Treatment with Pegylated-Interferon Alpha-2b Compared with Alpha-2a, Both with Ribavirin, for Chronic Hepatitis C Infection with Genotypes 2 and 3

  AUTHORS: Lindsay C. Mollison, Laurens Manning, Silvie Miczkova, Wendy Cheng

  KEYWORDS: Hepatitis C; Pegylated Interferon; Ribavirin; SVR; Multivariate Analysis; Genotype 2; Genotype 3

  JOURNAL NAME: International Journal of Clinical Medicine, Vol.5 No.3, January 24, 2014

  ABSTRACT: Purpose: The optimal formulation of pegylated interferon a (PEG-IFa) as a part of combination therapy with ribavirin (RBV) is uncertain for patients infected with hepatitis C Genotypes 2 and 3. Methods: A multivariate analysis of prospectively collected treatment data from two tertiary centres on 351 treatment na?ve HCV Genotype 2 or 3 patients who received PEG-IFa-2a or b plus ribavirin. Results: Univariate analyses demonstrate that PEG-IFa-2b based on regimens achieved a higher sustained virological response (SVR) than PEG-IFa-2a (77.9% versus 62.0%, P = 0.0012). On multivariate analyses, PEG-IFa-2b appeared superior to PEG-IFa-2a with an odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI95) for SVR of 2.19 (CI95 1.35-3.52, P = 0.0005). Genotype was a significant predictor of outcome in the multivariate model with 80% of Genotype 2 but only 67.7% of Genotype 3 subjects achieving SVR (OR 2.66 [CI95 1.35-5.92]). Increasing age was negatively associated with SVR (OR 0.97 [CI95 0.94-0.99]). Some of the differences in SVR are explained by higher relapse rates with PEG-IFa-2a (P = 0.009). Conclusions: PEG-IFa-2b and RBV achieve higher SVR rates than PEG-IFa-2a and RBV in Genotypes 2 and 3 chronic HCV infections. There is less relapse with PEG-IFa-2b. Genotype 2 infections are considerably easier to cure. SVR is higher in younger patients. These findings should influence a choice of PEG-IFa in the era of direct acting anti-viral drugs in therapy of Genotypes 2 and 3.