Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
5806923 | Current Opinion in Virology | 2012 | 11 Pages |
The inclusion of NS3 protease inhibitors to the interferon-containing standard of care improved sustained viral response rates in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients. However, there is still an unmet medical need as this drug regimen is poorly tolerated and lacks efficacy, especially in difficult-to-treat patients. Intense drug discovery and development efforts have focused on direct-acting antivirals (DAA) that target NS3 protease, NS5B polymerase and the NS5A protein. DAA combinations are currently assessed in clinical trials. Alternative antivirals have emerged that target host machineries co-opted by HCV. Finally, continuous and better understanding of HCV biology allows speculating on the value of novel classes of DAA required in future personalized all-oral interferon-free combination therapy and for supporting global disease eradication.
⺠Direct-acting antivirals (DAA) are currently challenged in HCV infected patients. ⺠Cellular machineries co-opted by HCV represent promising host targeting antivirals (HTA). ⺠Successful HCV therapies are achieved with all-oral IFN free drug combination. ⺠Future therapy will rely on individualized regimen of various classes of DAA and/or HTA.