( Potent Synergy Activity and Patient To...)Intarcia Therapeutics Announces Final Results From a Phase 2 Study,of Injectable Omega Interferon plus Ribavirin for the Treatment of,Hepatitis C Genotype-1,Health

BARCELONA, Spain, April 12, 2007 /PRNewswire/ -- Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company, today announced final results from a Phase 2 study of omega interferon with or without ribavirin in treatment-naive patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C. The results demonstrate that omega interferon in combination with ribavirin is well tolerated and show robust antiviral activity that is comparable to published data on the use of alpha interferon plus ribavirin in similar patient populations. The 72-week sustained viral response (SVR) data are being presented today at the 42nd annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) in Barcelona, Spain by John McHutchison, MD, Associate Director, Duke Clinical Research Institute and Professor of Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.

This Phase 2 study of daily subcutaneous omega interferon injections provides Intarcia with safety and clinical response data to support continued development of omega interferon delivered by continuous release from the DUROS(R) device.

"The safety and SVR rates achieved in this phase 2 study suggest that omega interferon plus ribavirin may achieve similar effects to alpha interferon and ribavirin in patients with HCV genotype-1," said Dr. McHutchison. "We look forward to results of the planned study of Omega DUROS therapy in which we will evaluate optimization of dose and pharmacokinetics through the delivery of omega interferon with the implantable DUROS device."

The Phase 2 trial compared the safety and antiviral response of omega interferon alone with omega interferon in combination with ribavirin in 102 interferon-naive patients in an open-label, multi-center, active-controlled study design. All study patients had genotype
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