title: Telaprevir  for the treatment of hepatitis C.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  More than 180 million people worldwide are infected with the chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), a major cause of liver cirrhosis, and its life-threatening complications including liver failure, portal hypertension and hepatocellular carcinoma. For patients infected with HCV genotype 1, the chances of a sustained virologic response (SVR) with the previous standard of care treatment (Peg-IFN-α + ribavirin) are only 40 - 50%. Neither drug targets a specific HCV protein, and treatment is not only compromised by insufficient SVR rates but also associated with several side effects. With a better understanding of the HCV life-cycle, and of the structural features of HCV proteins, several promising direct antiviral drugs (DAAs) have entered clinical development.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review summarizes the clinical development of telaprevir and discusses the possible role of telaprevir in combination with Peg-IFN-α and ribavirin as a new standard treatment against HCV infection, as well as any possible challenges in the future.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Triple therapy, with telaprevir in combination with Peg-IFN-α + ribavirin, is the new standard for chronic hepatitis C treatment in genotype 1-infected patients. At present, there are several next-generation DAAs in clinical development in combination with Peg-IFN-α. The future, however, may also include new treatment strategies, such as oral DAA combinations.
authors.affiliation: J. W. Goethe University Hospital, Department of Medicine, 1, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Forestier
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zeuzem
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D009842:Oligopeptides; D012254:Ribavirin; C486464:telaprevir