A Study to Assess the Safety, Tolerability and Efficacy of TMC435 Along With Pegylated Interferon Alpha-2a (Pegasys) and Ribavirin (Copegus) Triple Therapy in Chronic Hepatitis C Genotype-1 Infected Patients Co-infected With Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Type 1

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of TMC435 along with pegylated interferon alpha-2a (PegIFNα-2a) and ribavirin (RBV) triple therapy in hepatitis C virus genotype-1 infected subjects, co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus-type 1, and to evaluate the number of patients with sustained virologic response (SVR) at 12 weeks after the planned end of treatment.

This is an open-label (all the people know the identity of the intervention), single arm (study will be conducted in a single group) clinical study, to evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of TMC435 along with pegylated interferon alpha-2a (PegIFNα-2a) and ribavirin (RBV) triple therapy in adult chronic hepatitis C (CHC) genotype-1 infected patients who are co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus-type 1 (HIV-1). The study consists of 3 phases, screening phase (Week -6), treatment phase, and a follow-up phase (up to 24 weeks). In the treatment phase, patients will be classified based on their experience with previous hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment as follows: 1) HCV treatment-naive (patients who never received medication for the treatment of HCV); 2) prior HCV relapsers (patients who received at least 24 weeks of a PegIFNα-2a and RBV-based therapy and relapsed within 1 year after the last medication intake); and 3) prior HCV non-responders (can be further classified as, null responders: patients having at least 1 prior documented course of PegIFNα-2a and RBV therapy for at least 12 consecutive weeks; or partial responders: patients having at least 20 consecutive weeks which has not been discontinued due to intolerability to PegIFNα-2a and RBV therapy). All patients will receive TMC435 once daily along with PegIFNα-2a and RBV for 12 weeks. Patients who are continuing treatment only with PegIFNα-2a and RBV will follow until 24 or 48 weeks. Pharmacokinetics will be measured after collection of blood samples. Safety evaluations for adverse events, clinical laboratory tests, electrocardiogram, vital signs, physical examinations, and specific toxicities will be performed throughout the study. The total duration of treatment is approximately of 24 weeks.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* A liver biopsy required within 3 years prior to screening unless the patient has a contraindication for a liver biopsy
* Patients with bridging fibrosis or cirrhosis and without a liver biopsy result within 2 years prior screening must have an ultrasound taken within 2 months prior to the screening visit or during screening with no findings suspicious for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
* Genotype-1 hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection
* Plasma HCV ribonucleic acid (RNA) of more than 10,000 IU per mL
* Documented human immunodeficiency virus-type 1 (HIV-1) infection at least 6 months prior to screening

Exclusion Criteria:

* Patient showing evidence of hepatic decompensation (ie, history or current evidence of ascites, bleeding varices or hepatic encephalopathy, albumin serum concentration less than 3.3 gm per dL, prolonged prothrombin time \[PT\] expressed as international normalized ratio \[INR\] more than 1.5)
* Any liver disease of non-HCV etiology
* Co-infection with hepatitis B virus (hepatitis B surface antigen \[HBsAg\] positive)
* An acute HIV-1 infection; or HIV-2 infection
* Change in antiretroviral (ARV) regimen within the last 4 weeks prior screening