BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Merck reported today that final results from two pivotal Phase III studies of boceprevir, its investigational oral hepatitis C protease inhibitor, demonstrated significantly higher sustained virologic response (SVR)1 rates in adult patients who previously failed treatment (treatment-failure; HCV RESPOND-2) and in adult patients who were new to treatment (treatment-naïve; HCV SPRINT-2) for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 compared to control, the primary objective of the studies. The results for the primary endpoints of these studies, which were first reported in a news release in August 20102, and a broad range of further data analyses from these studies are being presented in oral and poster presentations at the 61st Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).