New developments in small molecular compounds for anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy.
Infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects approximately 170 million people worldwide. However, no vaccine or immunoglobulin is currently available for the prevention of HCV infection. The standard of care (SOC) involving pegylated interferon-α (PEG-IFN α) plus ribavirin (RBV) for 48 weeks results in a sustained virologic response in less than 50% of patients with chronic hepatitis C genotype 1, the most prevalent type of HCV in North America and Europe. Recently, reliable in vitro culture systems have been developed for accelerating antiviral therapy research, and many new specifically targeted antiviral therapies for hepatitis C (STAT-C) and treatment strategies are being evaluated in clinical trials. These new antiviral agents are expected to improve present treatment significantly and may potentially shorten treatment duration. The aim of this review is to summarize the current developments in new anti-HCV drugs.
Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA.
Jing
J
Tong
You-wei
YW
Wang
Yuan-an
YA
Lu
D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016174:Hepacivirus; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans
D000998:Antiviral Agents; D004791:Enzyme Inhibitors