Current and Future Therapies for Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Abstract

Only 20 years after the discovery of the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), a cure is now likely for most people affected by this chronic infection, which carries a substantial disease burden, not only in the United States but also worldwide.1 The recent approval of two direct-acting antiviral agents that specifically inhibit viral replication has dramatically increased the viral clearance rate, from less than 10% with the initial regimen of interferon monotherapy to more than 70% with current therapy. Moreover, many other drugs targeting viral or host factors are in development, and some will almost certainly be approved in the coming years. The questions of who should be treated and with what regimen will be increasingly complex to address and will require careful consideration. As therapy improves, systemwide identification and care of patients who need treatment will be the next challenge. Because most infected persons are unaware of their diagnosis, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently recommended screening for HCV all persons born between 1945 and 1965.2,3 It is anticipated that in the course of such a screening process, a large number of persons will be found to be infected with the virus; whether it will be possible to treat all these people is unclear. This article reviews the current therapy for HCV infection and the landscape of drug development.

Sustained Virological Response Rates to Antiviral Therapy in Genotype 1 and 3 Chronic Hepatitis C Patients: A Study from North India

“…Many additional potent agents are in the clinical pipeline, and interferon-free regimens are likely to dominate the HCV therapeutic landscape. 8 In India we still have to wait for a long time before these newer drugs are freely available. As of now PEG-IFN and ribavirin is still the therapy of choice for HCV patients in our population besides having many side affects.…”

Chronic hepatitis C: This and the new era of treatment

“…In the last decade the development of in vitro models of viral replication has thus represented a turning point for the understanding of the different stages of the replication cycle, and quickly has led to the design and introduction of direct acting antivirals (DAAs) [55] . However, because of huge variability of the virus, new drugs cannot be administered as monotherapy because it would quickly lead to the selection of drugresistant viral variants.…”

After a Workshop on the Novel Antivirals for Treatment of Hepatitis C Virus Infection (4-6 December 2015, İstanbul)

“…DEA ilaçların primer hedefi, yapısal olmayan proteinlerden HCV replikaz kompleksini sentezleten gen gruplarıdır (2)(3)(4)(5). DEA'lar NS3/4A, NS5A ve NS5B gen bölge-lerinden birini inhibe ederek etkili olur (4-7).…”