Janssen Sciences Ireland has taken a strategic decision to discontinue further development of its investigational regimen JNJ-4178 for the treatment of patients with hepatitis C.

Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and commonly affects the liver.

JNJ-4178 is a combination of three directly acting antivirals, AL-335, odalasvir and simeprevir.

Though the company will complete the ongoing Phase II studies for JNJ-4178, the treatment will not undergo any further development thereafter.

Janssen Sciences Ireland has made the decision owing to the growing availability of a wide range of highly effective and approved treatment options for hepatitis C patients.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

Janssen Infectious Disease Therapeutics global therapeutic area head Dr Lawrence Blatt said: “Going forward, our hepatitis research and development (R&D) efforts will focus on chronic hepatitis B, where a high unmet medical need still exists.

"Our scientists are energised by this challenge and our research ambition is to achieve a functional cure for hepatitis B which affects over a quarter of a billion people globally."

“Our scientists are energised by this challenge and our research ambition is to achieve a functional cure for hepatitis B which affects over a quarter of a billion people globally.

“At Janssen, we focus our research and development on areas of greatest unmet medical need where we can combine our excellent internal science with the best available external innovation to bring optimised solutions and maximum benefit to patients.”

Nearly a decade ago, Janssen co-developed telaprevir, which is a first-in-class protease inhibitor used in combination therapy to treat patients with chronic HCV.

Subsequently, the company, in collaboration with Medivir, developed and launched the second-generation protease inhibitor Olysio (simeprevir), which is currently approved in several countries worldwide.


Image: Electron micrographs of hepatitis C virus purified from cell culture. Photo: courtesy of TimVickers.