Combination hesitation

Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. and competing companies developing combinations of direct antivirals to treat HCV all agreed that the side effects seen in a Phase I trial of two of the biotech's antivirals are compound-specific. The setback thus won't dampen interest in replacing interferon-based regimens with an all-oral cocktail of direct antivirals as the standard of care.

Last week, FDA placed IDX184 and IDX320 on hold after Idenix saw liver abnormalities in a Phase I trial combining the two agents alone...