Two Types of Viral Hepatitis, Two Different Treats from Pharma -What’s After the Liver Meeting® 2014?

In 1989, scientists at Chiron (acquired by Novartis in 2006), in collaboration with a CDC researcher, first reported the molecular cloning of hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome from serum samples of patients diagnosed with Non-A Non-B viral hepatitis [1]. After the discovery of HCV, tremendous progress has been made toward better understanding the virus itself and its associated chronic hepatitis C (CHC). CHC affects approximately 130-150 million people globally and leads to 350,000-500,000 death annually [2]. Based on phylogenetic analysis of nucleotide sequences at either non-structural protein 5 (NS5) region or 5” untranslated region of HCV genome, HCV are classified into 6 genotypes (GT1-6). Variations at NS5 region can also divide genotype 1 into 1a and 1b sub genotypes [3]. In the same year of the discovery of HCV, recombinant interferon Alfa (IFN) showed effective in treating CHC [4]. Since then, the treatment paradigm has shifted from recombinant interferon Alfa to peginterferon Alfa-2 (pegIFN) and was quickly followed by the regimen of IFN in combination with Ribavirin (RBV) [5]. From 2001 to 2011, pegIFN plus RBV was the standard-of-care (SOC) that cured about 40-51% of HCV genotype 1 (GT1) and 70-75% of genotype 2-6 (GT2-6) virus Mini Review