Paritaprevir in patients with chronic hepatitis C genotype 1

Chronic hepatitis C is found worldwide. According to the WHO, it affects approximately 184 million patients around the globe. For the past decade, the standard-of-care treatment of chronic hepatitis C consisted of IFN-based regimens. However, IFN has its own limitations and is not always well tolerated in all patients. In addition, it yields unsatisfactory rates of virologic response especially in difficult-to-treat genotype 1 patients. Recent scientific advances led to the development of new IFN-free antiviral agents that are more effective, better tolerated and with shorter treatment duration. An all-oral regimen (paritaprevir/ritonavir and ombitasvir, copackaged with dasabuvir) has recently received the US FDA approval and the European Commission marketing authorizations for treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C genotype 1 infection, including those with cirrhosis. In this article, we sought to review the pharmacokinetics, clinical efficacy and side-effect profile pertaining to paritaprevir-containing regimens with special emphasis on Phase III clinical trials.