Letters To The Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Virology. Feb 12, 2015; 4(1): 33-35
Published online Feb 12, 2015. doi: 10.5501/wjv.v4.i1.33
Ledipasvir and sofosbuvir: Interferon free therapy for hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection
Yasir Waheed
Yasir Waheed, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Yasir Waheed, Foundation University Medical College, Foundation University Islamabad, DHA Phase I, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
Author contributions: Waheed Y solely contributed to this manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest: The author does not have any conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Yasir Waheed, PhD, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Sciences and Technology, H-12, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan. yasir_waheed_199@hotmail.com
Telephone: +92-300-5338171
Received: September 1, 2014
Peer-review started: September 2, 2014
First decision: November 19, 2014
Revised: December 3, 2014
Accepted: December 16, 2014
Article in press: December 17, 2014
Published online: February 12, 2015
Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has infected more than 200 million people around the globe. From 2001-2011, interferon plus ribavirin remained the standard of care for patients with HCV infection. The therapy had a limited response with a number of side effects. Recently, results for phase III trials of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir combination therapy have been announced. In treatment naïve patients, 12 wk of therapy with ledipasvir and sofosbuvir showed a sustained virological response (SVR) rate of 99%. In treatment experienced patients, 12-24 wk of therapy with ledipasvir and sofosbuvir in the absence or presence of ribavirin showed an SVR rate of 94%-99%. In cirrhotic patients the rate of SVR was 86% and 99% for 12 and 24 wk of therapy, respectively. The ledipasvir and sofosbuvir therapy showed very good results in different subgroups of patients regardless of patient’s race, alanine aminotransferase levels, sex and host genetic factors. The combination therapy was well tolerated with no emergence of resistant mutants. The most common adverse effects were nausea, headache and fatigue. With the availability of interferon free therapy with minimal adverse effects, it will be easy to decrease the future morbidity and mortality caused by HCV infection.

Keywords: Hepatitis C, Interferon, Ledipasvir, Sofosbuvir, Genotype

Core tip: The interferon based therapy for hepatitis C patients has a limited response with a number of adverse effects. The ledipasvir and sofosbuvir combination therapy showed a sustained virological response (SVR) rate of 99% in treatment naïve patients. The rate of SVR was 94%-99% in treatment experienced patients, while in cirrhotic patients the rate of SVR was 86%-99%. The treatment response was not affected by ethnicity or host genetic factors.