Hepatitis C genotype 1 virus with low viral load and rapid virologic response to peginterferon/ribavirin obviates a protease inhibitor
Brian L. Pearlman, Carole Ehleben – 19 July 2013 – The new standard of care for treatment‐naïve patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 includes triple therapy with peginterferon, ribavirin, and a protease inhibitor. However, patients who achieve a rapid virologic response after 4 weeks of peginterferon and ribavirin therapy are likely to achieve a sustained virologic response (SVR), and we hypothesized that protease inhibitor therapy may be unnecessary in these patients.