Recent launch of the new direct acting antivirals, (DAAs) for Hepatitis C, drives advance in treatment monitoring.
Roche has launched an ultra-sensitive HCV RNA test to laboratories throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland giving doctors access to clinically relevant results, enabling optimal clinical decision-making.
The increasing adoption of the new direct acting antivirals, (DAAs) for HCV, in combination with standard HCV therapy is driving a need for extremely accurate viral load monitoring.
Indeed, due to the potency of the new therapies, a highly sensitive real-time RT PCR assay is now recommended for the effective monitoring of RNA levels during treatment with DAAs.
Roche’s expertise in HCV testing is at the forefront of pharmaceutical research and has supported pivotal clinical trials for the licensing of the new DAAs.
In the backdrop of these developments, Roche is launching a brand new HCV RNA test to laboratories throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, giving doctors access to the most clinically relevant results and enabling optimal clinical decision-making.
The COBAS® AmpliPrep/COBAS® TaqMan® HCV Quantitative Test, v2.0 from Roche is a real-time PCR test for the sensitive detection and accurate quantitation of HCV RNA genotypes 1 through 6.
Patients undergoing the new HCV treatment can now be monitored precisely by real-time PCR measurement.
Furthermore, therapy success can be tracked at specific time points allowing the clinician to tailor treatment intervals according to viral load, offering the potential for shorter treatment times.
If the patient receives no therapeutic benefit due to the virus becoming resistant to the therapy, treatment can be stopped, therefore offering a cost saving to the NHS.
The combination of these highly efficacious drugs with cutting-edge testing, represents a major breakthrough in the battle against Hepatitis C, giving new hope to thousands of Hepatitis C sufferers throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.
As Personalised Healthcare has already begun to add true medical value for health professionals and patients, Roche’s assay underlines the clear shift from “equal shares for all” towards target oriented and response guided therapy.
Response guided therapy allows physicians to alter the duration or to stop therapy depending on the patient’s viral load, enabling a more tailored approach to treatment.
