Abstract

AbstractCurrent treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection with pegylated interferon (PEG‐IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) is effective in less than 50% of patients. Retreatment with the same regimen is poorly effective. The advent of direct‐acting antiviral agents that target replication of HCV promises to improve therapy for the disease. Telaprevir is a new protease inhibitor that specifically targets the NS3/4A serine protease, rapidly reducing HCV ribonucleic acid (RNA) levels. Several phase 2 and phase 3 studies have assessed the efficacy and safety of telaprevir. The author discusses the results of these studies, which suggest that the addition of this specific protease inhibitor to PEG‐IFN‐alpha2 and RBV can signifi cantly improve the results of treatment in patients affected with chronic HCV infection with genotype 1, compared with the standard treatment. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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