Roche Diagnostics is participating in a study designed to resolve the current limitations that prevent the individualisation of anti-HBV and anti-HCV (hepatitis B and C) treatments.
It is collaborating with the Spanish Vall d'Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR), the Networking Biomedical Research Centre in Liver and Digestive Diseases (CIBEREHD) and the software producer Advanced Biological Laboratories Therapy Edge Spain (ABL).
The project will utilise Roche's 454 Sequencing Systems and bioinformatics analysis, together with other genetic and molecular analytical techniques.
Ultimately, the research project aims to identify personalised treatment for each individual while minimising the healthcare costs and side effects experienced by subjects.
Hepatitis C (HCV) infection affects three per cent of the world population, representing a chronic disease for nearly 180 million people.
Many infected individuals acquire the disease 15-25 years before identification of the virus and the use of diagnostic tests.
The infection remains asymptomatic until it reaches the advanced stages of the disease, characterised by complications such as decompensated cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma.
In the early stages, resource use for controlling the disease is very limited, while in the advanced stages, resource consumption is enormous and some individuals require liver transplantation - with the resulting increase in direct and indirect costs, loss of quality of life and increased morbidity-mortality.
The hepatitis C and B viruses exhibit great variability, meaning a person infected with one of these viruses presents a complex population of variants comprising a structure known as quasispecies.
Dr Juan Ignacio Esteban-Mur, head of the line in hepatitis C, molecular biology, immune response and treatment of the liver diseases at VHIR, says the identification of these variants may be crucial for avoiding the selection of variants resistant to the new antiviral therapies Esteban-Mur is also the coordinator of the viral hepatitis programme of the CIBERHED, which comprises eight Spanish research groups, specialised in this field.
The use of 454 Sequencing Systems makes it possible to gain a comprehensive profile of the complex viral populations that circulate in individuals, with the fundamental purpose of identifying the presence of viral quasispecies resistant to the existing antiviral treatments.
The goal of the study is to apply this massively parallel sequencing approach to personalise the antiviral treatment strategies in individuals with chronic hepatitis C or B.
