IdB 1016 Treatment for Hepatitis C Disease

Results from two open label and four randomized placebo-controlled studies in patients with liver disease of diverse etiology suggest that IdB 1016 (oral silybin-phosphatidylcholine phytosome) is well tolerated and significantly improves serum liver enzyme levels. However, IdB 1016 dosing in these studies ranged from 314 mg bid to 314 mg tid, which is below Phase I doses that were well tolerated in healthy volunteers. None of the studies tested the safety and efficacy of IdB 1016 strictly in patients with chronic hepatitis C disease or measured post-treatment histologic changes. This study will be an open label, randomized, dose-finding study. There will be three arms corresponding to three different IdB 1016 doses: 314 mg, 624 mg, and 942 mg tid. Each arm will have 15 patients diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C and will be stratified to five patients with fibrosis stage II (periportal fibrosis), five patients with fibrosis stage III (bridging fibrosis), and five patients with fibrosis stage IV (compensated cirrhosis). The treatment duration will be 12 weeks. Patients will be followed for an additional 4 weeks after treatment cessation to assess residual effects of measured parameters. Patients will have clinic visits on Day -21 (screening), Day 1 (treatment initiation), Day 29, Day 57, Day 85 (end of treatment), and Day 113 (follow-up after washout).