A Treatment-Free Life is Possible for Millions of Hepatitis B Patients, PEGASYS(R) Study Reveals

A Treatment-Free Life is Possible for Millions of Hepatitis B Patients, PEGASYS(R) Study Reveals

March 08, 2006

-- Prior Treatment with `Maintenance Therapy' Medications No Barrier to Achieving Sustained Response with PEGASYS

    MANILA, Philippines, March 8 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Hope of a treatment-free life for millions of hepatitis B
patients currently having to take daily therapy Manila.

    The new clinical data showed that one-third of patients
previously taking daily antiviral medication (lamivudine)
achieved a sustained response following a 48-week course of
PEGASYS(R) (peginterferon alfa-2a (40KD)) therapy. Sustained
response means that the virus has been effectively
suppressed and patients can live life without daily
antiviral to keep their disease under control, was revealed
today at an international congress in medications. This
impressive response was achieved with just one course of
PEGASYS.

    "For many reasons, patients find daily antiviral
medications difficult to stay on. These results show that
PEGASYS can offer the possibility of a treatment-free life
for some hepatitis B patients" said Professor Teerha
Piratvisuth, from the Prince of Songkla University,
Thailand and lead author of this study. "This is good
news, given the high risk of developing resistance to daily
antiviral drugs, and the well documented risk of hepatitis
flares when this type of therapy is inappropriately
stopped."

    Key results from the PEGaLAM study

    The results from the PEGaLAM study were presented today
at the Asia Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver
(APASL) Conference. The PEGaLAM study is a real world
efficacy study, evaluating the benefit of up to 48 weeks of
PEGASYS in hepatitis B patients who have previously been
treated with lamivudine or adefovir. In this study of 83
patients living in Asia, over 30% achieved a sustained
response. In these patients, their response was maintained
after treatment was stopped, such that they no longer
needed to be treated further for their hepatitis B.
Remarkably, two of these patients also achieved the
ultimate treatment goal of HBsAg seroconversion, which is
as close to a cure as you can get. Furthermore, no cases of
liver failure were reported during the study. `Flares' of
liver inflammation, potentially leading to liver failure,
are a well-known side effect of stopping daily antiviral
medication.

    About PEGASYS

    PEGASYS works to fight hepatitis B in two ways: it
boosts the immune system and at the same time, attacks the
hepatitis B virus directly. Daily antiviral medications,
such as lamivudine or adefovir (also called nucleoside
analogues) have a direct antiviral effect only and tend to
be taken indefinitely as the hepatitis B often comes back
if patients stop taking it. However, the virus can become
resistant to daily antiviral medications with long-term
use, limiting their effectiveness.

    About Chronic Hepatitis B

    Chronic hepatitis B is a serious global healthcare
problem that affects over 350 million people worldwide. It
is one of the principal causes of chronic liver disease,
cirrhosis, and primary liver cancer. Approximately one
million people die from chronic hepatitis B annually,
making it the 10th leading cause of death worldwide. For
those chronically infected, the immediate aim of treatment
is remission of liver disease to prevent progression to
cirrhosis, liver failure and primary liver cancer.

    About Roche

    Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of
the world's leading research-focused healthcare groups in
the fields of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As a
supplier of innovative products and services for the early
detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease,
the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to
improving people's health and quality of life. Roche is a
world leader in diagnostics, the leading supplier of
medicines for cancer and transplantation and a market
leader in virology. In 2005 sales by the Pharmaceuticals
Division totalled 27.3 billion Swiss francs, and the
Diagnostics Division posted sales of 8.2 billion Swiss
francs. Roche employs roughly 70,000 people in 150
countries and has R&D agreements and strategic
alliances with numerous partners, including majority
ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai. Additional
information about the Roche Group is available on the
Internet ( http://www.roche.com ).

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    For more information, please contact:

     Janet Kettels, 
     Roche
     Tel: [phone]

     James Smith, 
     Axon Communications
     Tel: [phone]

SOURCE  Roche Pharmaceuticals