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Ribavirin plus peginterferon is effective for treating patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, but the use of this regimen is associated with substantial risk for hemolytic anemia. Taribavirin — a prodrug that is converted to ribavirin by adenosine deaminase — was previously evaluated as a replacement for ribavirin (JW Gastroenterol Nov 6 2009). At that time, taribavirin (known then as viramidine) reduced risk for anemia, compared with ribavirin, but did not improve efficacy.
To evaluate higher dosing of taribavirin, researchers conducted a phase IIb, open-label, multicenter, randomized, active-control trial involving 278 treatment-naive patients (mean age, 49; 61% men) with HCV genotype 1. The study population was character…