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New Therapies for Hepatitis C: Considerations in Patients with Renal Impairment

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Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major public health issue because infection may lead to liver failure, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. In patients with renal dysfunction, hepatitis C can also worsen the underlying renal disease. Treating HCV infection is thus mandatory in this population. New therapies for hepatitis C have recently been developed, and some have been launched. Most of them are used in combination with the current standard of care, ribavirin and pegylated interferon alfa. Some of them can be used in regimens without ribavirin and/or pegylated interferon. However, few data are available on dosage adjustment for renal function in patients receiving these very new drugs. We reviewed the literature on this subject and gathered information, although scarce, to propose guidelines for using these drugs in patients with chronic kidney disease.

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Acknowledgments

Service ICAR is funded by unrestricted educational grants from Gilead, Roche, Daiichi Sankyo, Vifor Pharma, Ipsen and Teva. Sarah Zimner-Rapuch has received no funding that is relevant to the content of this article. Nicolas Janus has received consulting fees from Roche and Fresenius Medical Care. Gilbert Deray has received an honorarium from Gilead. Vincent Launay-Vacher has received consulting fees from Gilead, Vifor, Roche, Sanofi and Pfizer. The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article.

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Correspondence to Sarah Zimner-Rapuch.

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Zimner-Rapuch, S., Janus, N., Deray, G. et al. New Therapies for Hepatitis C: Considerations in Patients with Renal Impairment. Drugs 74, 1307–1313 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40265-014-0268-7

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