Novel therapies in hepatitis B and C.
Chronic hepatitis B and C affect approximately 500 million people in the world, with substantial disease burden including liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. For chronic hepatitis B, two treatment strategies are currently available, both with suboptimal response and significant side effects. Promising new drugs are approaching the stage of approval; however, these agents still need further development to control this disease. Based on the understanding of the hepatitis C virus life cycle, new treatment developments for chronic hepatitis C tend to succeed rapidly; therefore, it is only a matter of time before new therapies emerge. This review summarizes the most important new agents available for treatment of chronic hepatitis B and C.
Takkenberg
Bart
B
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
de Bruijne
Joep
J
Weegink
Christine
C
Jansen
Peter
P
Reesink
Hendrik
H
D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans