Emerging drugs for hepatitis C
Soriano, V.; Madejon, A.; Vispo, E.; Labarga, P.; Garcia-Samaniego, J.; Martin-Carbonero, L.; Sheldon, J.; Bottecchia, M.; Tuma, P.; Barreiro, P.
Expert Opinion on Emerging Drugs 13(1): 1-19
2008
ISSN/ISBN: 1744-7623 PMID: 18321145 DOI: 10.1517/14728214.13.1.1Document Number: 199508
Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains a global health threat with approximately 200 million carriers worldwide. Current treatment consists of the use of peginterferon (pegIFN)/ribavirin (RBV) for 24 or 48 weeks depending on HCV genotype. Serious side effects and the fact that less than half of patients infected with HCV genotypes 1 and 4 (which are the most common) accomplish sustained virological response with this medication warrant the need for novel anti-HCV therapies. Description of specifically targeted antiviral therapies for hepatitis C (STAT-C) designed to inhibit the serine protease and the RNA-dependent HCV-RNA polymerase. Review of available data reported in peer-reviewed journals and medical conferences. Early preclinical studies using these compounds produced encouraging results, but the initial enthusiasm has been hampered by toxicity issues and rapid selection of resistance. Therefore, combination therapy with a backbone of pegIFN/RBV, or perhaps in the future using several of these small molecules, preferably having distinct modes of action and resistance profiles, will be required.