Boehringer Ingelheim stops development of deleobuvir for HCV

On 23 January 2014, the community website HIVandhepatitis.com reported that Boehringer Ingelheim will stop development its non-nucleoside hepatitis C virus polymerase inhibitor deleobuvir (formerly BI 207127). [1]

The decision was made based on blinded results from the Phase 3 HCVerso 1 and 2 trials, which evaluated a regimen consisting of deleobuvir, the HCV protease inhibitor faldaprevir (formerly BI 201335), and ribavirin.

The company statement reported “a higher rate of premature discontinuations suggesting a lower efficacy rate compared to other interferon-free therapies in development. […] Boehringer Ingelheim has therefore concluded that the expected therapeutic value of the deleobuvir-containing regimen would not justify further development.”

The company will move forward with the submission process for faldaprevir, which has shown promising results in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin in the STARTVerso trials.

HIV and Hepatitis.com. Boehringer Ingelheim halts testing of deleobuvir Hepatitis C regimens. (23 January 2014).