title: Hepatitis C therapy: highlights from the 2012 annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver.
abstract: The results from clinical trials testing new direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for chronic hepatitis C were the major focus of interest at the 2012 annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver. Besides triple combinations, in which any one of the new DAAs is given along with peginterferon-α/ribavirin, clinical trials exploring interferon-free oral regimens combining several DAAs attracted major attention. The good tolerance, broad hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype activity, and high resistance barrier of sofosbuvir make this nucleotide analogue one of the most promising DAAs. Among HCV protease inhibitors, the safety, potency, and convenient dosing of simeprevir, asunaprevir, faldaprevir, and ABT-450/r were particularly highlighted. Among NS5A inhibitors, the good performance of daclatasvir encourages further clinical development. Finally, intriguing results were released about the role of interleukin 28B (IL-28B) polymorphisms using interferon-free regimens, indirectly supporting the role of innate immunity for clearing HCV definitively.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases,  Hospital Carlos III, Madrid,  Spain.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barreiro
authors.forename: Eugenia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vispo
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Poveda
authors.forename: Jose V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Fernández-Montero
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Soriano
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002219:Carbamates; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000187:drug effects*; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007093:Imidazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007372:Interferons; D007378:Interleukins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011480:Protease Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011759:Pyrrolidines; D000069474:Sofosbuvir; D014542:Uridine Monophosphate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014633:Valine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D019562:Viral Load; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000095022:Interferon Lambda; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D002219:Carbamates; D007093:Imidazoles; D007372:Interferons; D007378:Interleukins; D011480:Protease Inhibitors; D011759:Pyrrolidines; D000069474:Sofosbuvir; D014542:Uridine Monophosphate; D014633:Valine; D017361:Viral Nonstructural Proteins; C000624353:interferon-lambda, human; D000095022:Interferon Lambda; C087036:NS-5 protein, hepatitis C virus; D012324:RNA-Dependent RNA Polymerase; C549273:daclatasvir