Protease inhibitors to treat hepatitis C in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study: high efficacy but low treatment uptake. HIV Medicine
Schaerer et al. assessed treatment uptake and efficacy in routine clinical setting among HIV/hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfected patients after the introduction of first generation direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs). Fifty-seven (11%) out of 516 patients with chronic HCV genotype 1 infection started HCV-treatment with first-generation protease inhibitors (e.g. telaprevir, boceprevir, faldepravir) during the first 2 years after their approval. Sustained virological response was 78%, 86% and 40% in treatment-naïve patients, patients with relapse and nonresponders, respectively.
The study-results indicate that introduction of HCV protease inhibitors into clinical practice was beneficial at the individual level, but had only a modest effect on the burden of HCV infection at the population level.