Medgenics kicks of clinical trial of hepatitis treatment

Medgenics has enrolled the first patient for its clinical trial of its INFRADURE Biopump product, which is used for the treatment of hepatitis C.

INFRADURE is a subcutaneous autologous skin tissue implant for the continuous production and delivery of interferon-alpha (INFa )needed by hepatitis patients.

It was developed by Medgenics to treat hepatitis B, C and D, to replace months of weekly injections of INFa, along with the serious side effects.

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The initial phase of the study is being conducted at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center in Israel.

The study is recruiting patients with hepatitis C of genotypes 2 and 3, who would normally receive weekly injections of INFa together with a daily dose of the oral antiviral drug ribavirin.

Patients will receive a single implantation of INFRADURE Biopumps in place of the weekly injections, together with daily ribavirin.

"Medgenics believes that the results of this study will assist in developing and calibrating INFRADURE for use in additional types of viral hepatitis, as well as other indications," the company said.

RD