Pegylated interferon alfa-2b is a drug used to treat melanoma, as an adjuvant therapy to surgery.[3] Also used to treat hepatitis C (typically, in combination with ribavarin), it is no longer recommended due to poor efficacy and adverse side-effects.[4]Subcutaneous injection is the preferred delivery method.[3]
A 2013 meta-analysis over Clinical Infectious Diseases noted the combination-treatment to be safe as well as effective for children and adolescents; other meta-analyses had noted the same for adult population.[9] A 2012 meta-analysis had found PEGylated interferon alfa-2a to be the more effective variant for treatment-naive patients.[10]
With the advent of Direct-Acting-Antivirals (DAAs — ), interferon-based treatment regimens gradually fell out of fashion due to relatively poor efficacy and high frequency of adverse side-effects.[4][7][11] No longer recommended, the use of PEGylated interferon alfa-2b has essentially ceased in all countries, where DAA therapeutics are available.[12][4]
Melanoma
For high-risk melanoma, it is used as an adjuvant therapy to surgery in some countries.[3][13] It was first approved for the purpose by FDA on 29 March 2011, based on a single phase III trial.[14][15]
The usage remains controversial — frequency of severe side-effects is high, overall survival benefits substantially vary across different trials, and there is no consensus on the dosage regimen.[16] Meta-analyses have suggested that the drug might be more helpful for patients with ulcerated primary lesion.[16]
COVID-19
On 23 April 2021, the Drugs Controller General of India approved emergency use of the medication (upon a request by Cadila Healthcare; trade name is Virafin) for treating moderate COVID-19 infections.[17] No publication (or preprint) yet exists; the phase II trial was poorly designed and not robust.[17]
Side effects
Adverse side effects are common and often require dose reduction or outright discontinuation.[4][8]
For genotype 1 hepatitis C treated with pegylated interferon-alfa-2a or pegylated interferon-alfa-2b combined with ribavirin, it has been shown that genetic polymorphisms near the human IL28B gene, encoding interferon lambda 3, are associated with significant differences in response to the treatment. This finding, originally reported in Nature,[18] showed that genotype 1 hepatitis C patients carrying certain genetic variant alleles near the IL28B gene are more likely to achieve sustained virological response after the treatment than others. A later report from Nature[19] demonstrated that the same genetic variants are also associated with the natural clearance of the genotype 1 hepatitis C virus.
^ abcdefghi"Peginterferon alfa-2b (PegIntron)". Hepatitis C Online. Infectious Diseases Education & Assessment, University of Washington. January 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
^ abWorld Health Organization (2019). World Health Organization model list of essential medicines: 21st list 2019. Geneva: World Health Organization. hdl:10665/325771. WHO/MVP/EMP/IAU/2019.06. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
^Singal AK, Jampana SC, Anand BS (August 2011). "Peginterferon alfa-2a is superior to peginterferon alfa-2b in the treatment of naïve patients with hepatitis C virus infection: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials". Digestive Diseases and Sciences. 56 (8): 2221–6. doi:10.1007/s10620-011-1765-0. PMID21643737. S2CID34328390.
^ abTrinh VA, Zobniw C, Hwu WJ (August 2017). "The efficacy and safety of adjuvant interferon-alfa therapy in the evolving treatment landscape for resected high-risk melanoma". Expert Opinion on Drug Safety. 16 (8): 933–940. doi:10.1080/14740338.2017.1343301. PMID28627943. S2CID22139797.