New Drug May Aid Hepatitis C Treatment

Adding a new drug to standard treatment may improve the outcome for people with hepatitis C, two new studies have found. The studies included a total of 584 people. In each study, people were divided into groups. Some took standard treatment, which is peginterferon and ribavirin. Others received these drugs plus a new one, telaprevir. Six months after the end of treatment, about 2 out of 3 people who took telaprevir had no signs of the virus in their blood. By comparison, fewer than half of those who got only standard treatment had the desired response. But people who took telaprevir were more likely to quit because of side effects. The New England Journal of Medicine published the studies. The Associated Press wrote about them April 30.