Medtronic enrols first candidates for Hepatitis C study

Medtronic has announced that it has recruited its first candidates for a forthcoming COPE-HCV trial exploring the tolerability and safety of continuous interferon infusion for patients with hepatitis C (HCV).

The study, which will encompass the use of Medtronic’s Paradigm Pump Infusion System and CareLink Clinical Monitoring System, will explore the continuous delivery of INTRON A in previously untreated genotype 1 patients.

During the first stage of the study, 124 patients will take part over 30 medical sites.

Bill Hawkins, Medtronic chairman and chief executive officer, explained: “With this trial now underway, we have the potential to extend our pump technologies and develop yet another drug-delivery option for a chronic disease that impacts millions of lives.”

Medtronic also revealed this week that its insulin suspending device – the Medtronic Paradigm Veo – is now available in over 50 countries worldwide.

It is designed to suspend the delivery of insulin in diabetes type 1 sufferers when it detects that glucose levels have fallen perilously low.