Telaprevir: new specific protease inhibitor for chronic hepatitis C

Current treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin (RBV) is effective in less than 50% of patients. Retreatment with the same regimen is poorly effective. The advent of direct-acting antiviral agents that target replication of HCV promises to improve therapy for the disease. Telaprevir is a new protease inhibitor that specifically targets the NS3/4A serine protease, rapidly reducing HCV ribonucleic acid (RNA) levels. Several phase 2 and phase 3 studies have assessed the efficacy and safety of telaprevir. The author discusses the results of these studies, which suggest that the addition of this specific protease inhibitor to PEG-IFN-alpha2 and RBV can signifi cantly improve the results of treatment in patients affected with chronic HCV infection with genotype 1, compared with the standard treatment. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.