Mixing and matching drugs: what makes sense?

Abstract

The introduction and ongoing development of directly acting antiviral agents (DAAs) and drugs targeting host cell structures will change the management of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The concomitant use of the protease inhibitors telaprevir or boceprevir with the standard of care, a combination of pegylated interferon (PegIFN) and ribavirin, will represent the new standard for the treatment of HCV genotype 1 infection. Contraindications and side effects limit the applicability of interferon-based therapies and motivate the investigation of PegIFN-sparing regimens. Different DAA combinations under investigation are reviewed in this article.

• Authors: Tania M Welzel, Stefan Zeuzem
• Journal: Clinics in liver disease (Clin Liver Dis) Vol. 15 Issue 3 Pg. 657-64 (Aug 2011) ISSN: 1557-8224 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 21867943 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Antiviral Agents
• Interferon-alpha
• Protease Inhibitors
• Recombinant Proteins
• Viral Nonstructural Proteins
• Polyethylene Glycols
• Ribavirin
• NS-5 protein, hepatitis C virus
• peginterferon alfa-2a

Topics

• Antiviral Agents (therapeutic use)
• Drug Therapy, Combination
• Genotype
• Hepatitis C (drug therapy)
• Humans
• Interferon-alpha (therapeutic use)
• Polyethylene Glycols (therapeutic use)
• Protease Inhibitors (therapeutic use)
• Recombinant Proteins (therapeutic use)
• Ribavirin (therapeutic use)
• Viral Nonstructural Proteins (antagonists & inhibitors)