Roche improves portfolio for early hepatitis C diagnosis and targeted treatment

Roche now offers an updated portfolio for the early detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and personalised disease management. Its improved diagnostics and patient monitoring tools allow for HCV testing with high performance in early infection and ease of use, allowing clinicians to work efficiently and to suit individual patient treatment.

Figures from the WHO show that around 200 million people globally are infected with HCV. Around 170 million people are chronic carriers of the virus, which can lead to cirrhosis, liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma. There is currently no vaccine to prevent infection.

Early detection of HCV infection is vital in order to provide consolidated care of acute and chronic infection, and adequate treatment of drug response monitoring is crucial to overall therapy success. But identifying HCV infection is difficult because there are often no symptoms, so most cases go undetected. Many countries are currently unable to screen blood donations for infections such as hepatitis C.

The Elecsys antiHCV II immunoassay on cobas e modules provides healthcare professionals with early qualitative detection of antibodies against HCV. The updated assay with CE mark approval delivers increased reliability and consistency for improved efficiency in screening patients and blood donors.

Following the identification of HCV antibodies, testing for HCV RNA, which is a crucial marker in the management of hepatitis C, confirms the infection and aids clinicians in predicting treatment response. In December 2011, Roche also received the CE mark for its HCV RNA qualitative and quantitative tests, which offer sensitive detection of HCV RNA and viral load measurement for predicting drug response on the COBAS AmpliPrep/COBAS TaqMan fully automated platform.

Roche’s updated portfolio of HCV testing and monitoring underlines a shift towards a target-oriented and response-guided therapy approach.