Telaprevir and pegylated interferon–alpha-2a inhibit wild-type and resistant genotype 1 hepatitis C virus replication in patients

Abstract

These studies suggest that the initial antiviral response to telaprevir is due to a sharp reduction in wild-type virus, which uncovers pre-existing telaprevir-resistant variants. In patients given telaprevir alone, viral rebound can result from the selection of variants with greater fitness. However, the combination of telaprevir and PEG-IFN-alpha-2a inhibited both wild-type and resistant variants. In the present study, every patient who began PEG-IFN-alpha-2a and ribavirin after the 14-day dosing period had undetectable HCV RNA levels at 24 weeks, indicating that telaprevir-resistant variants are sensitive to PEG-IFN-alpha-2a and ribavirin.