Efficacy and Safety of 24 vs 48 Weeks of Pegetron® (Peginterferon Alfa-2b + Ribavirin) in Naïve Genotype 1 Hepatitis C (Study P05016)(TERMINATED)

This is a Phase IIIB randomized, controlled, multi-centre, open-label study of 24 versus 48 weeks therapy with Pegetron® (peginterferon alfa-2b + ribavirin) at standard doses in naïve Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) genotype 1 high viral load (HVL) participants who are Hepatitis C Virus-Ribonucleic Acid (HCV-RNA) negative at Week 4. HVL will be defined as HCV-RNA of \>600,000 IU/mL prior to the initiation of therapy. Participants with genotype 1 baseline HVL prescribed Pegetron® (peginterferon and ribavirin) in the usual manner in accordance with the marketing authorization and who are viral negative at Week 4 will be randomized at Week 8 to receive a total of 24 or 48 weeks of therapy. Participants will be required to have their baseline and Week-12 viral load analyzed by the same local laboratory using the standard of care test used by the site. Qualitative testing at Week 4, 8, 16-20, 24, and 48 may be conducted either by local laboratory or a central laboratory identified by the sponsor using an assay specified by the sponsor. No additional interventions outside of the clinic's standard of care and the conditions of the Canadian product monograph for Pegetron® will be applied to participants.