[Attempts to treat chronic hepatitis C with HCV protease inhibitor]

The standard of treatment of chronic hepatitis C is pegylated interferon and ribavirin. The improvement of sustained viral response rates is sufficient with new HCV specific inhibitors against the NS3/4A protease and the NS5B polymerase. First generation protease inhibitors will offer higher SVR for both naïve (70-80%) and treatment-experienced (40-50%) patients infected with HCV when added to standard pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Because of the high genetic heterogeneity of HCV and its rapid replication, monotherapy with directly acting antivirals agents poses a high risk for selection of resistance variants. Year 2011 should bring the approval of the first generation of protease inhibitors that will offer higher cure rates for genotype 1 HCV patients and open the door for eventual testing of interferon-free regiments.