Novel approaches for therapy of chronic hepatitis C

Currently available anti-HCV therapy is effective in only half of the patients and limited by side effects that often necessitate discontinuation. Therefore, new treatment strategies are being developed including (i) the optimization of current regimens, (ii) the use of additional agents working via novel mechanisms, and (iii) anti-fibrotic strategies. Many new antiviral compounds are now being studied in preclinical and clinical trials. This review will focus on drugs that have already entered the stage of phase 2 or phase 3 studies.