New combination therapy for hepatitis C

A new combination therapy allows chronic hepatitis C to be treated in a manner that is less aggressive yet equally efficient. This is the result of a current study, led by primary author Peter Ferenci from the University Department of Internal Medicine III at the MedUni Vienna, which has been published in the highly respected New England Journal of Medicine. “This is a revolutionary breakthrough in the treatment of this disease and represents a huge improvement in the quality of life of those affected,” says the Vienna hepatologist.

Ferenci and a global group of scientists were able to demonstrate using 419 test subjects with chronic hepatitis C that the combined use of the protease inhibitor ABT-450r, the NS5A inhibitor Ombitasvir and the non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitor Dasubavir yields significantly higher cure outcomes than the previous therapy which involves Ribavarin and the hormone interferon (mostly in combination with a protease inhibitor)…