The authors would like to thank the study participants for their contribution to the research, as well as current and past researchers and staff. They would like to acknowledge members of the study group:
Protocol Steering Committee – Gregory Dore (Chair, UNSW Australia, Sydney, Australia), Jason Grebely (UNSW Australia, Sydney, Australia), Philip Bruggmann (Arud Centres for Addiction Medicine, Zurich, Switzerland), Philippa Marks (UNSW Australia, Sydney, Australia), Brian Conway (Vancouver Infectious Diseases Center, Vancouver, Canada), Geert Robaeys (Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Ziekenhuis Oost Limburg, Genk, Belgium), Tracy Swan (Treatment Action Group, New York, United States), Graham Foster (The Liver Unit, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom), Markus Backmund (Ludwig Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany) and Olav Dalgard (Akershus University Hospital, Oslo, Norway).
Coordinating Centre – Sophie Quiene (Study Co-ordinator), Evan Cunningham (PhD Student), Behzad Hajarizadeh (Associate Lecturer), Gregory Dore (Principal Investigator), Jason Grebely (Co-investigator), Pip Marks (Clinical Trials Manager), Ineke Shaw (Systems Manager), Sharmila Siriragavan (Data Manager) and Janaki Amin (Statistician).
Site Principal Investigators – Markus Backmund (PIT Munich, Munich, Germany), Stefan Bourgeois (ZNA Stuivenberg, Antwerp, Belgium), Philip Bruggmann (Arud Centres for Addiction Medicine, Zurich, Switzerland), Julie Bruneau (Centre Hôspitalier de l’Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada), Brian Conway (Vancouver Infectious Diseases Center, Vancouver, Canada), Olav Dalgard (Akershus University Hospital, Oslo, Norway), Gregory Dore (St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney Australia), Adrian Dunlop (Newcastle Pharmacotherapy Service, Newcastle, Australia), Graham Foster (Tower Hamlets Specialist Addiction Unit, London, United Kingdom), Margaret Hellard (The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia), Jeff Powis (South Riverdale Community Health Centre, Toronto, Canada), Geert Robaeys (Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Ziekenhuis Oost Limburg, Genk, Belgium), Stephen Ryder (Nottingham University Hospital, Nottingham, United Kingdom), Claude Scheidegger (Zentrum für Suchtmedizin, Basel, Switzerland), David Shaw (Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, Australia), Cornelia Staehelin (Poliklinik für Infektiologie, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland) and Martin Weltman (Nepean Hospital, Penrith, Australia).
Site Co-ordinators – David Axten (Tower Hamlets Specialist Addiction Unit, London, United Kingdom), Jessica Andreassen and Ingunn Melkeraaen (Akershus University Hospital, Oslo, Norway), Anita Eevers (Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Ziekenhuis Oost Limburg, Genk, Belgium), Catherine Ferguson (Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, Australia), Vincenzo Fragomeli (Nepean Hospital, Penrith, Australia), Susan Hazelwood and Rohan Holland (Newcastle Pharmacotherapy Service, Newcastle, Australia), Tina Horschik (Arud Centres for Addiction Medicine, Zurich, Switzerland), Christine Huber (Zentrum für Suchtmedizin, Basel, Switzerland), Kate Jack (Nottingham University Hospital, Nottingham, United Kingdom), Barbara Kotsoros (Centre Hôspitalier de l’Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada), Melanie Lacalamita (Poliklinik für Infektiologie, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland), Kristof Lesneuck (ZNA Stuivenberg, Antwerp, Belgium), Kate Mason (South Riverdale Community Health Centre, Toronto, Canada), Alison Sevehon (St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, Australia), Shawn Sharma (Vancouver Infectious Diseases Center, Vancouver, Canada), Sally Von Bibra (The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia), Nicole Widder (PIT Munich, Munich, Germany).
Funding
Supported in part by a research grant from the Investigator Initiated Studies Program of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp. The Kirby Institute is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the position of the Australian Government. JG is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Career Development Fellowship. BH is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Early Career Fellowship. MH is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Principal Research Fellowship. GD is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Practitioner Research Fellowships.
Availability of data and materials
The data in this study are available upon request. The data cannot be publicly available because they contain confidential and potentially identifying information. Data will be made available to all interested researchers upon request. Data requests should be submitted to ACTIVATE Steering Committee (Professor Greg Dore, the chair: gdore@kirby.unsw.edu.au).
Authors’ contributions
OD, JA, MH, GRF, PB, BC, MB, GR, TS, PSM, SQ, TLA, MW, DS, AD, JB, SB, MCT, GJD, JG were responsible for design and implementation of the study. JG and EBC were responsible for conception of this analysis. EBC, JG, JA, BH, HM were responsible for analysis of the data. EBC was responsible for writing the manuscript. All authors reviewed the manuscript and gave approval for publication.
Competing interests
JG is a consultant/advisor and has received research grants from Abbvie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Cepheid, Gilead Sciences and Merck/MSD and is an associate editor for BMC Infectious Diseases. OD is a consultant/advisor and has received research grants from Abbvie, Gilead Sciences and Merck/MSD. GRF is a consultant/advisor and has received research grants from Abbvie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, Janssen, Roche and Merck/MSD. PB is consultant/advisor and has received research grants from Abbvie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead, Janssen and Merck. BC is consultant/advisor and has received research grants from AbbVie, Gilead and Merck. GR has received research grants from Merck Sharp & Dohme, AbbVie, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and has acted as a consultant/advisor and for Gilead Sciences, Abbvie, Merck Sharp & Dohme, and Bristol Myers-Squibb. MW is a consultant/advisor for Abbvie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead, Merck, Janssen, Novartis and Roche. MH has received funding from Gilead Sciences, Abbvie and Bristol Myers Squibb for investigator initiated independent research. JB is a consultant/advisor and has received research grants from Gilead Sciences and Merck/MSD. SB is a consultant/advisor and has received research grants from AbbVie, MSD, BMS, Gilead, Janssen. CS has received travel grants through her institution sponsored by Gilead Sciences, Janssen and Merck/MSD. GD is a consultant/advisor and has received research grants from Abbvie, Bristol Myers Squibb, Gilead, Merck, Janssen and Roche.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
All study participants provided written informed consent before study procedures. The study protocol was approved by St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee (primary study committee), as well as through local ethics committees (Additional file 1) at all study sites, and was conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki and International Conference on Harmonization Good Clinical Practice (ICH/GCP) guidelines. The study was registered with clinicaltrials.gov registry (NCT01364090). The sponsor (The Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia) collected the data, monitored study conduct and performed the statistical analysis. An independant data and safety monitoring board reviewed the progress of the study.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
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