You indicated on your march 23,2001 answer it is best to wait until approval of Pegasys. Is this superior to the peg-intron that was recently approved? Thank you

There are differences between the 2 Peg-IFN .Peg-intron is a 12kd compound and Pegasys is a much larger drug of 40kd.The peg moiety is also different in that Peg-intron is a lineal peg and Pegasys is a branched peg.The distribution of the peg in the body also differs in that Pegasys does not goes significantly in extrahepatic tissue and peg-intron does.There are also concerns about the bond between the peg and intron,that may separate easily.The branched peg in Pegasys would be more resistant to the proteolytic enzimes. I think that the pharmacologic data support the conclussion that Pegasys is a superior Peg.This does not means that patients would not respond to Peg-intron.The available data show that Pegasys will be a better choice for genotypes 1 ,renal patients,and non-responders. You need to discuss this with your doctor.Most of the patients can wait 1-2 months to start treatment,and have all the alternatives available.