Hepatitis C is a viral hepatitis caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, which is a common problem around the world. At present, the world has about 185 million patients infected with hepatitis C, the annual increase is about 300~400 million of infection. China has more than 40 million people carrying the virus, in our country, chronic hepatitis C has become one of the most common and most important cause of cirrhosis, liver cancer, and seriously endanger the health of people. So how is the status of treatment for hepatitis C in domestic? It will be summarized in this article.

In the treatment of hepatitis C, there are two different eras: the era of interferon and the era of DAA.

The era of interferon: In 1989, common interferon was approved for the treatment of hepatitis C. Later, the addition of ribavirin and PEG-IFN made the cure rate of hepatitis C has been significantly improved. The standard treatment program is: PEG-IFN + ribavirin. But this standard treatment program has the disadvantages of low cure rate, poor patient tolerance and long treatment cycle.

The era of DAA: in 2011, the first generation of DAA was approved, which not only significantly increased the cure rate of hepatitis C, but also significantly shorten the treatment cycle; in the end of 2013, the second generation of DAA (Sofosbuvir as presented) was approved, a breakthrough has been made in the capture of hepatitis C, the appearance of Sofosbuvir also makes oral administration of interferon-free treatment program to become a reality.

The treatment of hepatitis C in domestic

Although in Europe, the United States and other countries and regions, DAA as the core of the triple program and the whole oral interferon-free program has gradually replaced the standard treatment program and become mainstream, but unfortunately, the standard treatment in China is still interferon and ribavirin, the cure rate was only 44%~70%.

Interferon in the domestic market mainly includes peg-interferon Pegasys from Roche, Peginterferon alfa-2b Injection from Merck, Pergberg (peginterferon α-2b) from Tebao in Xiamen; short-term interferon Kaiyinyisheng of KaiYin Technology (Recombinant Human Interferon α2b), An Fulong of Hua Lida Biological (Recombinant Human Interferon α2b), Andafen of Anke Biological (Interferon α-2b) and so on. Among them, long-acting interferon accounts for nearly 80% of the share in the domestic market, far more than short-acting interferon products.

Up to now, there are eight kinds of DAA varieties declared in China, namely: Asunaprevir and Daclatasvir of BMS, Simeprevir of Johnson & Johnson; danoprevir (ASC08) and NS5A inhibitors ASC16 of Ascletis, Hangzhou, drug from Suzhou Ginkgo Pharma, BL-8030 of ChiaTai Tianqing, NS5A inhibitor of Dongyangguang in Guangzhou. This year, Daclatasvir and Asunaprevir have been approved in China. This is the first oral anti-hepatitis C virus combined treatment program approved by SFDA, which indicates that the treatment of hepatitis C in China has entered a new era.

The listing of DAA is a landmark milestone in China's hepatitis C prevention, which provides treatment with higher cure rate, better security and shorter course for Chinese patients with hepatitis C. The introduction of oral administration of interferon-free therapy in domestic enterprises shows that China's research on hepatitis C direct antiviral therapy has been in line with international research. And when the domestic drug can be listed, let us wait and see.

Edited by Suzhou Yacoo Science Co., Ltd.