Chapter 26
Development of Anti-HCV Drugs
Esperance Schaefer,
Raymond T. Chung,
Esperance Schaefer
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Search for more papers by this authorRaymond T. Chung
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Search for more papers by this authorEsperance Schaefer,
Raymond T. Chung,
Esperance Schaefer
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Search for more papers by this authorRaymond T. Chung
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Search for more papers by this authorBook Editor(s):Howard C. Thomas BSc, PhD, FRCP, FRCPath, FMedSci,
Anna S.F. Lok MD,
Stephen A. Locarnini MBBS, BSc(Hons), PhD, FRCPath,
Arie J. Zuckerman MD, DSc, FRCP, FRCPath, FMedSci,
Howard C. Thomas BSc, PhD, FRCP, FRCPath, FMedSci
Emeritus Professor of Hepatology, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, UK
Search for more papers by this authorAnna S.F. Lok MD
Alice Lohrman Andrews Research Professor in Hepatology, Director of Clinical Hepatology, Professor of Internal Medicine, Associate Chair for Clinical Research, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Search for more papers by this authorStephen A. Locarnini MBBS, BSc(Hons), PhD, FRCPath
Head, Research & Molecular Development, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Search for more papers by this authorArie J. Zuckerman MD, DSc, FRCP, FRCPath, FMedSci
Emeritus Professor of Medical Microbiology, Formerly Principal and Dean, Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine
Search for more papers by this authorFirst published: 26 July 2013
Summary
The treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has undergone dramatic changes recently. Treatment advances have been enabled by an enhanced understanding of the viral life cycle. Novel anti-HCV drugs fall broadly into two categories: direct acting antivirals (DAAs) and host-targeted antivirals (HTAs). The first of these to enter the clinic are agents that block the HCVNS3/4A protease: telaprevir and boceprevir. Several other classes of DAAs are under development, including inhibitors of the NS5BRNA-dependent RNA polymerase (nucleos(t)ide and nonnucleoside inhibitors) and agents that target the viral NS5A protein. Also under investigation are drugs that block host factors required for the viral life cycle, such as antagonists of cyclophilin A and micro-RNA-122. These new classes of drugs have been identified because of a foundation of knowledge of underlying protein structure and activity, but also by using unbiased discovery approaches, and have resulted in an ever-enlarging armamentarium against HCV.
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