Future Treatment of Hepatitis C: What will be the Fate of Ribavirin?

When I began my career as a hepatologist in 1988 there were no treatments for viral hepatitis. In fact, hepatitis C (HCV), then known as non-A, non-B (NANB) hepatitis, was not discovered until the following year. Almost a decade passed before treatment for HCV became available that resulted in acceptable Sustained Virologic Response (SVR) rates (now known to be consistent with virologic cure) - a combination of Interferon alpha (IFN) plus Ribavirin (RBV). Prior to this pairing, less than 10% of HCV patients achieved a SVR when treated with IFN alone. With combination therapy, SVR rates rose to approximately 40-50%.