Hepatitis C Cure
The hepatitis C virus was identified in 1989 (Nobel Prize 2020); from 2013 all-oral antiviral pills such as sofosbuvir cured more than 95 percent of patients within months.
Open in the interactive tree →Michael Houghton, Qui-Lim Choo, George Kuo and Daniel Bradley found the virus in 1989 by cloning a piece of its genome, and Houghton, Harvey Alter and Charles Rice shared the 2020 Nobel Prize. Interferon with ribavirin cured only about half to three quarters of patients and caused heavy side effects. Sofosbuvir, discovered at Pharmasset in 2007, was approved by the US FDA on 6 December 2013, and direct-acting antiviral pills now cure more than 95 percent in about 8 to 24 weeks. WHO estimated 47 million people with chronic infection and about 239,000 deaths in 2024, and only about one in five diagnosed people had been treated by the end of 2024.
Prerequisites
- Genetic Engineering1973The virus was found in 1989 by cloning a piece of its genome from blood.
- Antiretroviral Therapy (HIV)1996Pills that block viral enzymes in combination were first proven against HIV.