HCV Cocktail Party

It is a given that HCV treatment will follow the same cocktail strategy used in HIV. The question is whether me-better interferons will form the basis of those combinations, or whether interferon will be replaced altogether by direct antivirals.

Data presented at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) conference in April provided the first glimpse at a PEG IFN-free regimen involving a pair of direct antiviral agents: a protease and a nucleoside polymerase inhibitor. Several companies also presented data on improved IFNs that could make the current standard of care more palatable for patients by offering fewer injections and side effects...