Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • From the Analyst's Couch
  • Published:

Hepatitis C therapies

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery volume 7, pages 799–800 (2008)Cite this article

The current standard of care for HCV is a combination of PEGylated–interferon (PEG–IFN) and ribavirin. PEG-IFNs available on the market include PEG–Intron (Schering–Plough) and Pegasys (Roche). Marketed ribavirin includes Rebetol (Schering–Plough), Copegus (Roche) and various generic versions. The overall clinical success rate, referred to as sustained virological response (SVR), of this combination therapy is only around 50%1. The treatment is lengthy (48 weeks for genotype 1 HCV) and associated with frequent and sometimes serious side effects including neuropsychiatric events, flu-like symptoms and haematological toxicities. It is also contraindicated for many patients1. Overall, it is estimated that only 10% of patients with chronic HCV are successfully treated with the current standard of care.

HCV pipeline

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Evolution of HCV therapy.

References

  1. Strader, D. B. et al. Diagnosis, management, and treatment of hepatitis C. Hepatology 39, 1147–1171 (2004).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Jensen, D. M. & Ascione, A. Future directions in therapy for chronic hepatitis C. Antivir. Ther. 13 (Suppl. 1), 31–36 (2008).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Vertex. Vertex Reports 52% SVR 12 Rate for a 24-week Telaprevir-based Regimen in Genotype 1 Hepatitis C Patients Who Failed Prior Treatment. Vertex web site [online], (2008).

  4. HIV and Hepatitis.com. R7128 Demonstrates Potent Anti-HCV Activity in Combination with Pegylated Interferon/Ribavirin; Ongoing Trial to be Expanded. HIV and Hepatitis.com web site [online], (2008).

  5. Modi, A. A. & Hoofnagle, J. H. New therapies for hepatitis C. Hepatology 46, 615–617 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Irena Melnikova, Ph.D., is a Senior Associate at TVM Capital, 101 Arch Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02110, USA. melnikova@tvm-capital.com,

    Irena Melnikova

Authors
  1. Irena Melnikova
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Related links

Related links

FURTHER INFORMATION

Clinical trials.gov

Medline Plus Health Topics Hepatitis C

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Melnikova, I. Hepatitis C therapies. Nat Rev Drug Discov 7, 799–800 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd2661

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd2661

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing