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Hepatitis C drug fights virus in new way: link to another article (Technology Review)

Hepatitis C Drug Targets RNA
A new drug suppresses the virus in chimps without generating resistance.

By Emily Singer
Friday, December 04, 2009


An experimental drug developed by Danish startup Santaris effectively controls the hepatitis C virus in chimpanzees without creating drug-resistant forms of the virus--a major advantage over other compounds in clinical development. The compound, a synthetic nucleic acid that binds to a microRNA molecule required for viral reproduction, is now in early-stage clinical trials. It is the first microRNA-targeting drug to be tested in humans.

Approximately 170 million people across the globe are infected with the hepatitis C virus, a chronic infection that can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer, and the need for a liver transplant. While drugs exist to treat the virus, they carry serious side effects and work in fewer than half of all infected patients. "The treatment is very harsh and needs to be taken for 48 weeks," says Robert Lanford, the lead author on the new study, which was published online today in Science. "Most people can't tolerate it that long, especially if they have liver disease."

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http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/24059/