Efficacy and safety of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir as retreatment therapy for patients with genotype 2 chronic hepatitis C who failed prior sofosbuvir plus ribavirin regimen

Aim Rescue therapy for patients with genotype 2 (GT2) chronic hepatitis C who failed prior sofosbuvir (SOF) plus ribavirin (RBV) awaits establishment. This study aims to investigate the efficacy and safety of the fixed‐dose combination of glecaprevir (300 mg)/pibrentasvir (120 mg) (GLE/PIB) for patients with GT2 chronic hepatitis C. Methods In this nationwide observational study undertaken by the Japanese Red Cross Liver Study Group, 28 GT2 patients with prior failure of SOF + RBV were retreated with GLE/PIB for 12 weeks. We evaluated the rate of sustained virologic response (SVR) and adverse events. Results After 4 weeks of therapy, serum hepatitis C virus RNA was below the limit of quantification in all patients. The SVR after 4 and 12 weeks of the end of treatment was validated in 100% (28/28) and 100% (28/28), respectively. The adverse events comprised pruritus (eight patients), fatigue (four patients), and appetite loss (four patients), all of which were mild in severity. Conclusions This study establishes the efficacy of GLE/PIB as retreatment in Japanese patients with GT2 chronic hepatitis C not responding to SOF + RBV.