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2011 saw the release of two drugs for treating patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections, both directed at improving treatment response among patients with HCV genotype 1 infections. Boceprevir (Victrelis) and telaprevir (Incivek) are protease inhibitors administered in conjunction with peginterferon and ribavirin; both new drugs were validated in manufacturer-supported randomized trials.
In the boceprevir trials, both treatment-naive patients and treatment-experienced patients in whom a previous course of peginterferon/ribavirin (PR) had failed were randomized to PR plus various boceprevir regimens or placebo. Compared with patients treated with PR plus placebo, the boceprevir groups did better across the board: Among treatment-naive…