RNA ‘Friendly’ Ligands with Antiviral Activity for the Treatment of Hepatitis C

The number of deaths from hepatitis C (HCV) is expected to surpass that resulting from HIV in the near future. There is no vaccine or drug available that acts directly on the virus. Current therapy typically consists of combined interferon and ribavirin, both of which have significant side effects that are often severe enough to necessitate additional treatment, thus increasing the overall cost and affecting patient compliance with the treatment regimen. Viral proteins are the targets of many research projects to find new drugs to treat HCV. These targets are often analogous to those of many HIV programs. One of the challenges to developing a monotherapy targeting viral proteins is the high genetic variability of HCV. University of California, San Diego Office of Innovation and Commercialization licensing@ucsd.edu 858.534.5815