Hepatitis C drug treatments could cure disease

[SpartanDem]

Two three-drug regimens, both tested in Detroit, appear to cure most people of the most common type of hepatitis C in the U.S.

"We're closing in on a cure," said Dr. Stuart Gordon, a hepatitis C researcher at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, a center of study for the chronic liver disorder for more than two decades. Gordon coauthored one of the drug studies, appearing in today's New England Journal of Medicine.

The cocktails consist of two new drugs: boceprevir from Merck & Co., and telaprevir from Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Each is paired with two drugs used to treat hepatitis C for more than a decade -- interferon and ribavirin.

Although interferon and ribavirin have worked in some people, thousands took the drugs only to see the virus return. Adding a third drug appears to significantly boost a person's chance of beating the disease for good.



http://www.freep.com/article/20110331/NEWS06/103310438/Hepatitis-C-drug-treatments-tested-Detroit-could-cure-disease

Sounds like a big breakthrough

[old mark]

1. K&R- My wife took interferon for a year and a half with no result. She is now

taking weekly Pegasus injections and oral medication for the next 44 weeks to try to remove the virus from her system.

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