Anadys Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s experimental hepatitis C drug by meeting all key goals in a mid-stage clinical trial shows great promise as a new treatment for the disease.

After four weeks, interim data showed 56% of patients receiving ANA598 in a combination treatment along with pegylated interferon and Ribavirin, considered the standard of care for the virus, had undetectable levels of the virus.

For the study, ANA598 was given to the patients for 12-weeks, followed by standard of care treatment for an additional 12 or 36-weeks. An independent committee recommends escalating the study to a dose of 400-milligrams from 200-milligrams, with Anadys expecting to start the additional dose in January.

A viral infection, Hepatitis C causes inflammation of the liver, resulting in possible scarring and potential liver failure.

With the competition intensifying amongst pharmaceuticals to develop an hepatitis C treatment, Wall Street has been prompted into closely watching if there are any side effects to the many drugs in various stages of development. There is Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. completing late-stage developments of its Hepatitis C drug – telaprevir, with other potential future products including Pharmasset Inc. and Roche’s RG7128, InterMune Inc. and Roche’s ITMN-191, and Achillion Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s ACH-1625.

The news of its successful trial has send Anadys shares up as much as 9% to $3.20 in pre-market trade.