Monthly Dose of Human Genome Hepatitis Drug Shown Effective

A midstage study showed a monthly dose of a Human Genome Sciences Inc. drug has so far shown to be just as effective in treating hepatitis C as the current standard treatment of a weekly dose.

Clinical research executive Mani Subramanian said the three-quarter reduction in Zalbin injections "has the potential to offer an important option" to treat people with genotypes 2 and 3 hepatitis C. That is inflammation of the liver, and genotypes 2 and 3 of the virus are generally easier to treat than genotype 1, the most common one in the U.S.