Antiviral resistance and specifically targeted therapy for HCV (STAT-C)

Abstract

Summary. As health care providers, we find ourselves on the verge of a new era in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. A number of directly acting antiviral agents are now in the latter stages of clinical development. The more promising candidates include direct inhibitors of the HCV nonstructural 3 protease, as well as both nucleoside and non-nucleoside inhibitors of the NS5B RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. Although these agents have demonstrated potent antiviral effect, monotherapy has been complicated by rapid virological breakthrough due to the selection of drug-resistant mutants. As for HIV and HBV, combination therapy will therefore be necessary. This brief review ..