Treating HCV Infection: It Doesn't Get Much Better Than This

Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) regimens now allow treatment of previously untreated or treated (including prior DAA failures) patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with 8 or 12 week regimens, largely without the use of ribavirin. Newer next-generation pan-genotypic regimens with activity against resistance-associated substitutions include glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (GLE/PIB), a combination of a nonstructural protein (NS)3 protease inhibitor and an NS5A inhibitor, and sofosbuvir/velpatasvir/voxila-previr (SOF/VEL/VOX), a combination of an NS5B polymerase inhibitor, NS5A inhibitor, and NS3 protease inhibitor. Both regimens have indications in DAA-experienced patients. GLE/PIB is approved for treatment of patients with genotype 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 infection without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis and for the treatment of patients with genotype 1 infection previously treated with a regimen containing an NS5A inhibitor or an NS3/4A protease inhibitor, but not the combination. SOF/VEL/VOX is approved for retreatment of patients without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis with genotype 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 infection previously treated with an NS5A inhibitor-containing regimen, or with genotype 1a or 3 previously treated with a SOF-containing regimen without an NS5A inhibitor. This article summarizes an IAS-USA webinar given by Susanna Naggie, MD, MHS, on August 30, 2018