Chronic hepatitis C patients will have access to a new drug in the treatment against the disease. The U. S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Victrelis, which was produced by Merch of Whitehouse Station.

In combination with drugs such as peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, Victrelis can amount to a cure for hepatitis C, since in patients who took both drugs the hepatitis C virus was no longer detected in their blood, even 24 weeks after finishing the treatment.

Hepatitis C is a potentially-deadly disease, which debilitates and affects the liver. It can lead to cirrhosis, causing later jaundice, bleeding and fluid accumulation in the abdomen, besides from infections or liver cancer. The illness is spread through birth (when the mother has the disease), exposure to infected blood, having sex with an infected person, sharing toothbrushes, razors or unsterilized needles. Around the world about 170 million people are infected with hepatitis C. In the United States, there are 3.2 million.

According to researches, the cure rate for Victrelis reached 66%, which means a significantly increase, comparing with other drugs. Victrelis was approved by the FDA for adults with hepatitis C who failed previous treatments or were never treated. The study showed that some patients had early responses to the drug. In this case, the treatment could last 28 weeks to 36 weeks only.