Elimination of HCV Through Linkage and In Prison Treatment of Incarcerated Populations (ECLIPSE)

Overview

Hepatitis C (HCV) is a chronic infection with significant morbidity and mortality. The development of directly acting antivirals (DAA) has dramatically improved the cure rate of HCV treatment. People who experience incarceration are disproportionately infected and often involved in ongoing transmission of disease. However, despite availability of effective treatment, people who experience incarceration are often unable to access this curative therapy, and are often not readily engaged in medical care upon release. This perpetuates transmission and progression of disease in an incredibly high risk, marginalized population. Therefore, in order to effectively eliminate HCV, it is imperative that the epidemic of HCV in prisons is addressed, and that models of care are established for treatment of HCV in incarcerated individuals, both during and after incarceration. As such, the investigators propose a comprehensive model of care to engage incarcerated individuals in treatment of HCV upon release from prison. This care is provided in conjunction with collocated services to prevent HCV reinfection, including opioid agonist therapy. This pilot trial will demonstrate whether a comprehensive model of care can effectively cure HCV in recently incarcerated individuals, while simultaneously treating opioid use disorder and preventing HCV reinfection.

Full Title of Study: “Elimination of HCV Through Linkage and In Prison Treatment of Incarcerated Populations”

Study Type

  • Study Type: Interventional
  • Study Design
    • Allocation: Randomized
    • Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
    • Primary Purpose: Treatment
    • Masking: None (Open Label)
  • Study Primary Completion Date: March 30, 2022

Interventions

  • Drug: Glecaprevir/pibrentasvir
    • Treatment for HCV Infection

Arms, Groups and Cohorts

  • No Intervention: In prison treatment arm
    • Of patients who achieved SVR, 100 inmates will be enrolled for long-term monitoring for re-infection after they have completed treatment. Patients will be seen every 6 months to test for reinfection, however they will not be subject to any medical or behavioral interventions through the study team. Limited opioid agonist therapy may be available as per the standard practice of the DOC, however syringe exchange and other harm reduction services will not be accessible to inmates, per DOC policy.
  • Active Comparator: Community Linkage – Rapid Initiation Arm
    • The rapid initiation group will receive HCV medication immediately upon release from prison/jail.
  • Active Comparator: Community Linkage – Clinic-Based Initiation Arm
    • The group will receive medication after attending first ANCHOR clinic visit.
  • No Intervention: In prison – Retrospective Review
    • a retrospective review of de-identified available data provided by the DOC for all patients previously treated with DAAs through standard of care in the DOC will be reviewed for rates of SVR.

Clinical Trial Outcome Measures

Primary Measures

  • Sustained Virologic Response (SVR) in the community linkage arm
    • Time Frame: 6 months after treatment
    • Absence of plasma HCV RNA levels 70 days or greater after completing direct acting antiviral therapy.

Secondary Measures

  • Retrospective rates of SVR in the In prison arm
    • Time Frame: 6 months after treatment
    • Absence of plasma HCV RNA levels 70 days or greater after completing direct acting antiviral therapy.
  • Treatment Initiation Rates
    • Time Frame: 6 months
    • Rates of treatment initiation in the CL arm (defined as taking one dose of direct acting antiviral)
  • OAT uptake Rates
    • Time Frame: 12 months
    • Rates of OAT uptake in the CL arm (defined as completion of OAT induction)
  • HCV Reinfection Rates
    • Time Frame: 24 months
    • Reinfection (defined as documentation of infection with a different HCV genotype than at baseline before treatment, or if the same genotype, viremia after SVR determination, or phylogenetic analysis shows a different virus strain than the pre treatment baseline strain)
  • Comparison between Rapid Initiation and Clinic-base Initiation
    • Time Frame: 24 months
    • Comparative efficacy of rapid initiation (RI) and clinic-based initiation (CB) arms, comparing the rates of SVR in patients who were randomized to the RI arm compared to patients randomized to the CB arm.

Participating in This Clinical Trial

Inclusion Criteria

1. Age greater than or equal to 18 years old 2. Able and willing to sign informed consent 3. For the community linkage arm: Chronically infected with HCV, defined as any individual with documentation of positive HCV antibody and positive HCV RNA test (HCV RNA of 2,000 IU/mL or greater). 4. For the community linkage arm: ineligible for treatment through the prison/jail without a known sentence longer than 9 months, as of consent date 5. For the in-prison arm: Achievement of SVR through the previous standard of care treatment through the DOC Exclusion Criteria:

1. Decompensated cirrhosis (Child-Pugh B or C) 2. Pregnant or breastfeeding women 3. For community linkage arm: Prior treatment with a direct acting antiviral regimen 4. For community linkage arm: Any co-medications that are contraindicated or not recommended for concomitant use with glecaprevir-pibrentasvir 5. Poor venous access not allowing screening laboratory collection 6. Have any condition that the investigator considers a contraindication to study participation

Gender Eligibility: All

Minimum Age: 18 Years

Maximum Age: N/A

Are Healthy Volunteers Accepted: No

Investigator Details

  • Lead Sponsor
    • University of Maryland, Baltimore
  • Collaborator
    • Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
  • Provider of Information About this Clinical Study
    • Principal Investigator: Elana Rosenthal, Assistant Professor – University of Maryland, Baltimore
  • Overall Official(s)
    • Elana Rosenthal, MD, Principal Investigator, University of Maryland, Baltimore

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