Health Canada Approves INCIVEK(TM) (telaprevir) for People With Hepatitis C

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated VRTX today announced that Health Canada has approved INCIVEK(TM) (telaprevir) tablets for a broad group of people with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C with compensated liver disease (some level of damage to the liver but the liver still functions), including cirrhosis (scarring of the liver). INCIVEK is approved for use in combination with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin, two other medicines approved to treat hepatitis C, and is indicated for people who are new to treatment, and for people who were treated previously but who did not achieve a sustained viral response (SVR, or viral cure). INCIVEK is approved for use in all three major groups of people who did not achieve a viral cure despite prior treatment including: relapsers, partial responders and null responders.