Telbivudine (Tyzeka) Outdoes Adefovir (Hepsera) in Reducing HBV Viral Loads

HONG KONG, Oct. 2 -- In a head-to-head comparison in patients with chronic hepatitis B, telbivudine (Tyzeka) reduced viral loads more effectively than adefovir (Hepsera), researchers here said.

In an open-label study over 24 weeks, telbivudine reduced viral loads by more than a factor of 10 compared with adefovir, a difference that was significant at P

In contrast, the average level among adefovir patients was 4.00 log₁₀ copies, differences of 0.99 log₁₀ copies and 0.98 log₁₀ copies, respectively, which were significant at P=0.004.

Adverse events were few and not significantly different among the arms.

The study implies that telbivudine may have a role to play in improving outcomes for patients with chronic hepatitis B, Dr. Chan and colleagues said.

But they noted that open-label nature of the trial and its relatively small size are limitations that make it difficult to compare clinical outcomes. Also, the short duration makes it impossible to say anything about long-term efficacy, Dr. Chan and colleagues said.