Grazoprevir/elbasvir for the treatment of adults with chronic hepatitis C: a short review on the clinical evidence and place in therapy

Abstract

Nimisha Sulejmani,1 Syed-Mohammed Jafri2 1Department of Pharmacy, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI, USA; 2Division of Gastroenterology, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI, USA Abstract: Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection impacts approximately 71 million people and approximately 400,000 deaths are attributed to HCV-related liver disease annually worldwide. Mainstay of treatment for over 25 years has been pegylated interferon until the advent of protease inhibitors, which has led to all-oral HCV treatment regimens that have changed the outlook of hepatitis C treatment. Grazoprevir/elbasvir provides high rates of efficacy and tolerability and is an all-oral once daily treatment option for HCV infection. Efficacy of grazoprevir/elbasvir has been proven in patients with cirrhosis, patients who have previously failed treatment with peginterferon and ribavirin (RBV), patients with end-stage renal disease and patients with HIV co-infection. Data have shown a high barrier to resistance despite the presence of resistance-associated substitutions. Grazoprevir/elbasvir represents a very promising regimen for treatment of HCV infection. This review provides a summary of pharmacology, efficacy, and safety of grazoprevir/elbasvir for the treatment of HCV infection. Keywords: hepatitis C virus, grazoprevir, elbasvir, NS3, NS4, NS5A, protease inhibitors 

Keywords

• hepatitis c virus
• grazoprevir
• elbasvir
• NS3
• NS4
• NS5A
• protease inhibitors