title: Rapid decrease of wild-type hepatitis C virus on telaprevir treatment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Telaprevir (TVR) is a hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3.4A protease inhibitor that has exhibited antiviral activity in patients with HCV genotype 1 infection. The viral dynamics in patients dosed with TVR were compared with those reported for patients treated with interferon (IFN).
  
  
  METHODS
  The dynamics of wild-type HCV genotype 1 in patients dosed with TVR monotherapy (n=36) and TVR plus pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN)-alpha2a (n=8) were quantified using a biphasic viral dynamic model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients dosed with either TVR monotherapy or TVR plus PEG-IFN-alpha2a had median first and second phase decreases of 12 per day and 1.1 per day, respectively. The second phase decrease was approximately 10-fold higher than reported values for IFN-based treatments (P<0.0001). Patients dosed with TVR plus PEG-IFN-alpha2a had a median remaining viral production after blockage (1-epsilon) of -2.37 log(10). In patients dosed with TVR monotherapy, increased TVR dosage of the same schedule was related to better blockage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggested that TVR-based regimens for chronic HCV infection will lead to an early and more rapid viral decrease that could potentially result in higher sustained viral response rates as well as offer the potential for a reduced duration of treatment.
authors: Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors: Bambang S
authors: BS
authors: Adiwijaya
authors: Brian
authors: B
authors: Hare
authors: Paul R
authors: PR
authors: Caron
authors: John Cr
authors: JC
authors: Randle
authors: Avidan U
authors: AU
authors: Neumann
authors: Hendrik W
authors: HW
authors: Reesink
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Zeuzem
authors: Eva
authors: E
authors: Herrmann
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000187:drug effects*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016899:Interferon-beta; D007372:Interferons / Q000008:administration & dosage; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D009842:Oligopeptides; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; C486464:telaprevir; D016899:Interferon-beta; D007372:Interferons; C428112:peginterferon beta-1a