New class of medicines for chronic hepatitis C]

Worldwide approximately 130-210 million people suffer from chronic hepatitis C. Adequate antiviral therapy reduces morbidity and mortality caused by chronic hepatitis C and prevents further spread of the hepatitis C-virus (HCV). The current standard treatment of chronic hepatitis C, consisting of the combination of pegylated interferon-α (peginterferon) and ribavirin, lasts 24-48 weeks, and is accompanied by significant side effects and has a suboptimal chance of success. Protease inhibitors, which have recently been registered, belong to a new class of medicines which directly affect the life cycle of HCV. Protease inhibitors, in combination with peginterferon and ribavirin, provide almost double the chance of curing in patients with HCV genotype 1. Treatment duration can be shortened in a considerable proportion of these patients. Since treatment with protease inhibitors can lead to resistant virus strains and this therapy leads to additional side effects, the complexity of treatment will increase.