NUTLEY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Roche today announced the start of a large, multinational trial to examine a new treatment strategy in hepatitis C patients with difficult-to-treat characteristics. This study will evaluate the effect of PEGASYS® (peginterferon alfa-2a) and ribavirin in patients who have a high level of genotype 1 virus in their blood (high viral load) and who are heavier than average in weight. The trial, known as PROGRESS (PEGASYS and Ribavirin Optimized in Genotype 1 high virRal load patiEntS to improve SVR), will examine the potential benefits of using a fixed dose induction (360 mcg) of PEGASYS for the first 12 weeks of therapy.
