An experimental drug could successfully eradicate hepatitis C - an infection that is incurable in most people, the Guardian reported.
Scientists said they may have found a way to get rid of the viral disease in patients infected by combining two new antiviral drugs, "raising hopes of a possible cure."
The pill, which combines sofosbuvir and ledipasvir, eliminated the hepatitis C virus in nearly all the participants in the study, according to the findings published in the medical journal The Lancet.
The experimental drug even cured those who had not previously responded to existing drugs.
Hepatitis C is a caused by a virus that spreads via bodily fluids and ends up damaging the liver, it is most commonly transmitted through blood to blood contact, such as sharing needles through injection drug use.
According to Fenway Health, about 90 percent of people with Hepatitis C develop chronic infections and continue to infection to others. It can increase the risk of liver cancer, liver failure and even death.
Unlike other forms of hepatitis, there is no vaccine for the virus and the only treatments include powerful combinations of drugs that have many side-effects and are complex to administer, according to the Guardian.
University of Texas Professor Eric Lawitz, who led the study, said the findings offer hope to people currently without treatment options and to those with recurring symptoms.
"The results of this trial suggest that the fixed-dose combination of sofosbuvir and ledipasvir could offer patients a short, all-oral treatment that might be highly effective and safe in patients who tend not to respond well to existing therapies, including individuals with cirrhosis, or black race, resistant strains of the virus," he said in a statement.
In the experiment, 100 patients with hepatitis C were split into groups and took the combination pill for either eight or 12 weeks. Some patients in the study also received ribavarin, a pill used to treat hepatitis C, as part of their regiment. Forty of the patients had previously failed to respond to drugs and half of this group had cirrhotic livers, the Guardian reported.
Twelve weeks following the completion of the therapy, researchers found that 97 percent of the patients in the study had what they called a "sustained virological response," which meant the virus was eliminated and prevented from replicating.
There were no serious side effects associated with the drug.
According to Medical Express, less than half of the participants in the study experienced at least one side effect, "with the high rates observed in the groups of patients who were receiving ribavirin as part of their treatment."
The most common side effects were mild forms of nausea anemia, upper respiratory tract infection and headaches, Health Day reported.
The combination drug is still being evaluated in phase 3 clinical studies, so it's too soon to tell if it will receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval or how it would be priced, Lawitz said.
