TG – dolutegravir; EFV – efavirenz; EVG – elvitegravir; FTC – emtricitabine; RTV – ritonavir; TAF – tenofovir alafenamide; TDF – tenofovir disoproxil fumarate
12.4 Microbiology
Mechanism of Action
Glecaprevir
Glecaprevir is an inhibitor of the HCV NS3/4A protease, which is necessary for the proteolytic cleavage of the HCV encoded polyprotein (into mature forms of the NS3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A, and NS5B proteins) and is essential for viral replication. In a biochemical assay, glecaprevir inhibited the proteolytic activity of recombinant NS3/4A enzymes from clinical isolates of HCV genotypes 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5a, and 6a with IC50 values ranging from 3.5 to 11.3 nM.
Pibrentasvir
Pibrentasvir is an inhibitor of HCV NS5A, which is essential for viral RNA replication and virion assembly. The mechanism of action of pibrentasvir has been characterized based on cell culture antiviral activity and drug resistance mapping studies.
Antiviral Activity
In HCV replicon assays, glecaprevir had median EC50 values of 0.08-4.6 nM against laboratory and clinical isolates from subtypes 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 4d, 5a, and 6a. Pibrentasvir had median EC50 values of 0.5-4.3 pM against laboratory and clinical isolates from subtypes 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 4b, 4d, 5a, 6a, 6e and 6p.
Combination Antiviral Activity
eva luation of combination of glecaprevir and pibrentasvir showed no antagonism in antiviral activity in HCV genotype 1 replicon cell culture assays.
Resistance
In Cell Culture
Selection of HCV genotype 1a, 1b, 2a, 3a, 4a or 6a replicons for reduced susceptibility to glecaprevir resulted in the emergence of amino acid substitutions most commonly at NS3 positions A156 or D/Q168. Individual substitutions at NS3 amino acid position A156 introduced into HCV replicons by site-directed mutagenesis generally caused the greatest reductions (>100-fold) in susceptibility to glecaprevir. Individual substitutions at NS3 position D/Q168 had varying effects on glecaprevir susceptibility depending on HCV genotype/subtype and specific amino acid change, with the greatest reductions (>30-fold) observed in genotypes 1a (D168F/Y), 3a (Q168R) and 6a (D168A/G/H/V/Y). Combinations of NS3 Y56H plus D/Q168 substitutions resulted in greater reductions in glecaprevir susceptibility. An NS3 Q80R substitution in genotype 3a caused a 21-fold reduction in glecaprevir susceptibility, while Q80 substitutions in genotypes 1a and 1b (including genotype 1a Q80K) did not reduce glecaprevir susceptibility. Individual amino acid substitutions associated with resistance to other HCV protease inhibitors at positions 36, 43, 54, 55, 56, 155, 166, or 170 in NS3 generally did not reduce susceptibility to glecaprevir.
Selection of HCV genotype 1a, 2a or 3a replicons for reduced susceptibility to pibrentasvir resulted in the emergence of amino acid substitutions at known NS5A inhibitor resistance-associated positions, including Q30D/deletion, Y93D/H/N or H58D +Y93H in genotype 1a replicons, F28S + M31I or P29S + K30G in genotype 2a replicons, and Y93H in genotype 3a replicons. The majority of individual amino acid substitutions associated with resistance to other HCV NS5A inhibitors at positions 24, 28, 30, 31, 58, 92, or 93 in NS5A did not reduce susceptibility to pibrentasvir. Individual NS5A amino acid substitutions that reduced susceptibility to pibrentasvir include M28G or Q30D in a genotype 1a replicon (244- and 94-fold, respec |
