Efficacy and safety of treatment with sofosbuvir/velpatasvir in patients aged 6-18 years with chronic hepatitis C-Results of the PANDAA-PED study.

Background And Aims: The aim of this non-commercial, open-label, real-life, non-randomized clinical trial was to analyse the efficacy and safety of a pangenotypic regimen sofosbuvir/velpatasvir (SOF/VEL) in patients aged 6-18 years with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

Methods: Fifty patients qualified for the 12-week treatment were divided into two weight groups: 15 children weighting between 17 and <30 kg received a fixed dose of 200/50 mg of SOF/VEL (tablet) once daily, and 35 patients weighting ≥30 kg were treated with 400/100 mg SOF/VEL. The primary endpoint of the study was efficacy defined as sustained viral response (undetectable HCV RNA using an real-time polymerase chain reaction method) at 12 weeks posttreatment (SVR12).

Results: Median age of the participants was 10 (IQR 8-12) years, 47 were infected vertically, and 3 patients were previously ineffectively treated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Thirty-seven participants were infected with HCV genotype 1, 10 with HCV genotype 3 and the remaining 3 with genotype 4. There was no case of cirrhosis. SVR12 was 100%. Thirty-three reported adverse events (AEs) were considered related to the administration of SOF/VEL, all of them were mild or moderate. Children presenting with AEs were older compared to these without AEs: 12 (9.5-13) versus 9 (IQR 8-11) years (p = 0.008).

Conclusions: Results of the PANDAA-PED study indicated a 100% effectiveness of a 12-week therapy with SOF/VEL in children aged 6-18 years with chronic HCV infection and its good safety profile, in particular in younger patients.