Elsevier

Journal of Hepatology

Volume 59, Issue 2, August 2013, Pages 375-382
Journal of Hepatology

Review
NS5A inhibitors in the treatment of hepatitis C

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2013.03.030Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Summary

Hepatitis C virus infection is a major health problem worldwide and no vaccine has yet been developed against this virus. In addition, currently approved pharmacotherapies achieve suboptimal cure rates and have side effects that result in non-compliance and premature treatment discontinuation. Significant research has been devoted to developing direct-acting antiviral agents that inhibit key viral functions. In particular, several novel drug candidates that inhibit the viral non-structural protein 5A (NS5A) have been demonstrated to possess high potency, pan-genotypic activity, and a high barrier to resistance. Clinical trials using combination therapies containing NS5A inhibitors have reported results that promise high cure rates and raise the possibility of developing interferon-free, all-oral regimens.

Abbreviations

HCV
hepatitis C virus
DAA
direct acting antiviral
NS
nonstructural
RdRp
RNA-dependent RNA polymerase
IFN
interferon
UTR
untranslated region
IRES
internal ribosome entry site
SVR
sustained virological response
RVR
rapid virologic response
cEVR
complete early virologic response

Keywords

Hepatitis C virus
NS5A inhibitor
Daclatasvir
Resistance

Cited by (0)