31/03/2011

Two-thirds of patients with the most common form of hepatitis C can be cured with a new generation of antiviral drugs, as publishes in The New England Journal of Medicine a group of researchers in which appears Dr. Rafael Esteban Mur, member of the liver diseases group at Vall d'Hebron Institute of Research (VHIR).With current treatments, the cure rate for hepatitis C does not exceed 40%, so now "opens a new era in the treatment of hepatitis C," says the magazine. Hepatitis C affects over 170 million people worldwide, and is the most serious of the common hepatitis. The research, divided in two studies, has evaluated the efficacy and side effects of incorporating the protease inhibitor boceprevir, a type of antiviral drug, to treatment of hepatitis C. In the work in which has participated VHIR the drug has been tested in patients who had not responded to conventional treatment, while in the second study it has been done with patients who had not received any treatment. For patients receiving the new drug cure rates reached 70% for the two cases, compared to 40% and 21% respectively for those who received only conventional treatment.With these results, Dr. Esteban Mur expects that the European Medicines Agency authorizes the new drug after the summer. Looking at the future, he believes that "will appear more drugs against hepatitis C that will further improve treatment efficacy and reduce side effects." VHIR is currently involved in eleven clinical trials of some of these still experimental drugs against hepatitis C.