Retreatment experience with Glecaprevir/Pibrentasvir (G/P) for hepatitis C infection in patients failing first-line direct-acting antiviral agents.

Introduction and Objectives

First-line direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) achieved a sustained viral response (SVR) in >95%, failure to follow the scheme is rare and the option of retreatment with sofosbuvir/velpatasvir/voxilaprevir does not exist in our setting, therefore although G/P is considered an alternative, it is the only available option. There are few reports evaluating it; due to this, we describe the frequency and characteristics of patients with failure to first-line DAA schemes and the result of retreatment with G/P during the period from January 2017 to January 2023 in 3 tertiary hospital centers.

Materials and Patients

The intentional search for cases with failure to achieve SVR with first-line DAAs was carried out in 2 Mexican reference centers and one Ecuadorian center during the period from January 2017 to January 2023. Characteristics and results of patients treated with the scheme were documented. of G/P. No conflict of interest was reported by the researchers.

Results

From a total of 2,397 HCV-infected patients treated with the first-line DAA scheme, without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis, a total of 9 patients presented virological failure, the average age was 52.4 years, five women and four men, of these, six patients had fibrosis grade F4, 3 of them F1, the predominant genotype was 1a, the initial regimens were SOF/VEL or SOF/LED in the majority, only one case used Paritaprevir/Ritonavir/Ombitasvir/Dasabuvir + Ribavirin, all the patients re-treated with G/P had SVR at 12 weeks, no resistance profile was routinely performed, adverse effects were mild, and were reported in 22.2% of the total, none of them abandoned treatment.

Conclusions

First-line DAAs are effective; virological failure in our sample is lower (0.37%) than reported in the literature. G/P is an effective and safe scheme for retreatment of patients with failure without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis (100% response in our study), without serious adverse effects, which makes it possible to eliminate and meet the WHO 2030 goals.

Ethical statement

The protocol was registered and approved by the Ethics Committee. The identity of the patients is protected. Consentment was obtained.

Declaration of interests

None

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.