How Do HCV Protease Inhibitors Work?

HCV protease inhibitors are a class of antiviral medications used for treating chronic hepatitis C infection. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has core, envelope, and nonstructural proteins which are responsible for the production and multiplication of the virus. Nonstructural proteins include:

• NS2
• NS3
• NS4A
• NS5A
• NS5B

NS3 is a versatile protein that mainly has enzymes required for HCV multiplication, including:

• Protease
• NTPase

NS4A binds to the NS3 protein to produce NS3/4A that is responsible for stimulating protease activity. The RNA of HCV consists of a large protein (polyprotein) that must be split into the core, envelope, and nonstructural proteins. The NS3/4A is responsible for this stage of viral multiplication.

Thus, HCV protease inhibitors block the splitting action of the NS3/4A enzyme to prevent viral multiplication.

As HCV protease inhibitors prevent HCV viral multiplication, they are mainly used to treat:

• Chronic hepatitis C infection
• Recurrent chronic hepatitis C infection

HCV protease inhibitors, when administered orally, may cause these side effects:

• Fatigue
• Nausea
• Itching
• Skin reactions
• Insomnia
• Liver failure
• Headache
• Diarrhea

The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible side effects, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. Check with your doctor or pharmacist to make sure these drugs do not cause any harm when you take them along with other medicines. Never stop taking your medication and never change your dose or frequency without consulting your doctor.

Generic and brand names of HCV protease inhibitor drugs include:

• Boceprevir
• Incivek
• Olysio
• Ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir
• Ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir and dasabuvir
• Simeprevir
• Sofosbuvir/velpatasvir/voxilaprevir
• Technivie
• Telaprevir
• Victrelis
• Viekira pak
• Vosevi
• Voxilaprevir