LUCKNOW, Oct. 2 -- A collaborative study involving SGPGIMS and KGMU in Lucknow, BHU-IMS in Varanasi, and AIIMS and GB Pant Hospital in New Delhi, with statistical expertise from CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow, has found that an eight-week course of sofosbuvir-velpatasvir can cure hepatitis C in 98.8% of patients, almost matching the 99% cure rate of the standard 12-week regimen. The findings of the trial, conducted over more than a year and published in The Lancet recently, suggest that hepatitis C treatment could potentially be shortened by four weeks without a meaningful reduction in effectiveness. This could have implications for treatment programmes in India and other countries. The trial enrolled 880 patients at the five publicly funded tertiary-care hospitals. Patients receiving the eight-week regimen achieved a sustained virological response (SVR), or cure, in 98.8% of cases, compared with 99% among those on the 12-week course. The findings are significant for India, where more than 60 lakh people are estimated to require treatment for hepatitis C. According to the investigators, cutting four weeks from the treatment course could save about Rs.3,000 per patient, potentially translating into savings of several billion rupees if the shorter regimen is widely adopted. The study was led by investigators from the hepatology department at Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) and gastroenterology departments at the participating institutions. The statistical component was handled by Dr Ashish Awasthi of CSIR-CDRI. The research was conducted under the supervision of Prof Rakesh Aggarwal, associated with ICMR headquarters, New Delhi, and Dr Radha Krishna Dhiman, director, SGPGIMS. It was largely coordinated by Dr Amit Goel of SGPGIMS and Dr Sumit Rungta of King George's Medical University (KGMU). The study received Rs.1.65 crore in funding from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), department of health research....