Which is the IDEAL Peginterferon for Hepatitis C: A Meta-Analysis of both Pegylated Interferons in the Treatment of HCV-Infected Patients

Chronic infections with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) represent a major global health problem, with around 170 million patients at risk of developing life-threatening complications such as liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. The standard treatment of care is a combination of weekly pegylated interferon (peginterferon) alfa and daily ribavirin for 24-72 weeks, dependent on HCV genotype and the patient’s individual virological response to therapy (1, 2). Currently, there are two forms of peginterferon licensed for the treatment of hepatitis C: peginterferon alfa-2a (Pegasys, Roche) and peginterferon alfa-2b (Pegintron, Schering-Plough). Although direct pharmacodynamic comparisons of both substances have shown that they differ considerably with respect to pharmocokinetics and initial virological suppression (3), it remained largely unclear whether this is relevant for clinical endpoints, especially for achieving sustained virological response in HCV-infected patients.