CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 5 /CNW/ -- Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) announced today the initiation of a Phase II clinical trial for VX-950, an investigational oral hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease inhibitor for the treatment of HCV infection. The 28-day study will evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacodynamics of VX-950 when combined with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Pegylated interferon and ribavirin are two approved treatments for HCV infection. Twelve treatment-naive subjects will be enrolled in the study at two centers in the United States. This is the first clinical study of VX-950 to be initiated under an open investigational new drug (IND) application with the United States Food and Drug Administration, and marks the beginning of a broad Phase II clinical development program planned for VX-950 that will evaluate the compound in multiple clinical studies in 2006, including a three-month study in more than 200 treatment-naive patients.