Molecular Medicine and Diagnostics

Biography

Biography: Imran Shahid

Abstract

The advancement in hepatitis C virus therapeutics has profoundly enhanced by an improved understanding of viral life cycle in host cells, development of novel direct-acting antivirals and exploring the other emerging treatment paradigms on the horizon. The approvals of first and second-generation direct-acting antivirals highlight the swift pace of progress in the successful development of an expending variety of therapeutic strategies for use in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Triple and quadruple therapies based on the combination of different direct-acting antivirals with or without pegylated interferon and ribavirin have raised the hopes to improve the current treatment strategies for other difficult-to-treat individuals. All-oral interferon free therapeutic regimens directed against hepatitis C virus infection are shown to be highly effective in the entire spectrum of patient populations, including the previously difficult-to-treat “special” situations. These revolutionary drug strategies now incorporate a cocktail of agents blended to take advantage of synergistic mechanism of action. The development of more efficacious, well tolerated, and cost effective interferons with low frequency of adverse events and short treatment durations are also in the pipeline. An experimental protective vaccine against hepatitis C virus demonstrated promise in preliminary human safety trials, and a larger phase II clinical trials are under consideration to further determine the efficacy of the vaccine. This review article describes the current state of knowledge in hepatitis C virus therapeutics, insights the potential pitfalls of current therapies, and provides a conceptual framework of emerging and investigational treatment strategies directed against hepatitis C virus.