Current status of treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus infection

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is responsible for substantial mortality and morbidity worldwide. Until recently, the standard of care for the treatment of chronic HCV infection had been a combination of pegylated interferon (peg-IFN) and ribavirin (RBV). The recent availability of two directly acting agents, telaprevir and boceprevir, has led to significantly improved outcomes for those patients with HCV genotype 1. Unfortunately, each of these agents must be combined with peg-IFN and RBV for optimal efficacy, and substantial treatment-related toxicity continues to challenge clinicians. However, the drug development pipeline for chronic HCV infection is very robust and the emergence of new therapies and therapeutic strategies in the near future for managing chronic HCV infection is eagerly anticipated.