New developments in the management of hepatitis C virus infection: Focus on boceprevir

Abstract

Chronic hepatitis C virus infection is an important public health problem, and the standard treatment (combination of pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin) has an effectiveness rate of only 40%-50%. Novel virus-specific drugs have recently been designed, and multiple compounds are under development. The approval for the clinical use of direct-acting antivirals in 2011 (boceprevir [BOC] and telaprevir, viral NS3 protease inhibitors) has increased recovery rates by up to 70%. Therefore, a highly effective treatment has been envisioned for the first time. This paper focuses on BOC and the implementation of new BOC-based treatment regimes. © 2012 Berenguer and Lo ́pez-Labrador.