Hello what treatment of hepatitis C (genotype 1) by (protease inhibitors) exist on the market? Are they all provided in hospitals? What is the cost of the treatment.

Thank you very much

There is a tremendous research effort underway to develop alteratives to combination therapy with interferon and ribavirin for HCV infection. This is especially true for genotype 1 infection, where the response rates are a bit lower. To date, the compounds are effective, yet toxic. The most promising ones are from Idenix and Vertex (the latter company producing VX-950), with the Vertex compound being in more advanced stages of clinical trials and showing more promising results. To get access to these medications, however, you need to be enrolled in a clinical trial. This being said,if all goes well, the medications may become available more broadly within 3-4 years.