New Drug Combination Promises SVR 6 in hepatitis C

Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc's experimental hepatitis C drug, when used with Gilead Sciences Inc's Sovaldi, eradicated signs of the virus in 6 weeks, the shortest duration and highest response achieved by any 2-drug treatment

Achillion's shares rose as much as 19 percent to $12.85 on Monday on investor's hopes that an all-Achillion combination could be as effective as Gilead's and AbbVie Inc's current therapies.

The estimated $20 billion market for hepatitis C drugs has developed at a lightning pace in recent years, with several companies including Gilead, AbbVie and Merck & Co Inc working on faster, more potent ways to cure the liver-destroying virus, which affects more than 170 million globally.

Link to the news on Reuters: http://reut.rs/1vehaXY