Mixing and matching drugs: what makes sense?

The introduction and ongoing development of directly acting antiviral agents (DAAs) and drugs targeting host cell structures will change the management of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The concomitant use of the protease inhibitors telaprevir or boceprevir with the standard of care, a combination of pegylated interferon (PegIFN) and ribavirin, will represent the new standard for the treatment of HCV genotype 1 infection. Contraindications and side effects limit the applicability of interferon-based therapies and motivate the investigation of PegIFN-sparing regimens. Different DAA combinations under investigation are reviewed in this article.