Prospects for long-acting treatments for hepatitis C

In 2019, more than 4 years after the widespread availability of safe, oral, curative treatments, an estimated 58 million people were living with hepatitis C virus infection (PLWHC). Additional tools may enable those not yet reached to be treated. One such tool could be long-acting parenteral formulations of HCV treatment, which may allow PLWHC to be diagnosed and cured in a single encounter. Although existing highly effective oral medications might be formulated as long-acting parenteral treatments, pharmacological, regulatory, patent, and medical challenges have to be overcome; this requires the concerted efforts of PLWHC, researchers, funding agencies, industry, the World Health Organization, and other stakeholders.

Access the full article, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, here.