The goal of chronic hepatitis C treatment is to reduce virus to undetectable levels and to slow the progression of the disease to help prevent cirrhosis (liver inflammation), end-stage liver disease, and other complications.
PEGINTRON® Treatment
In most cases, interferons are used in treatment, either alone or in combination with other drugs. PEGINTRON® is a good treatment choice. PEGINTRON® offers the following:
- Low relapse rate - While it is difficult to think about the end of treatment when you may just be getting started, choosing a medication with a low relapse rate is an important consideration when deciding on a course of treatment. Sometimes a medication begins to work, but the virus may not be completely eliminated. Patients who are virus negative at the end of 48 weeks of treatment, but then have detectable virus six months later are deemed to have "relapsed." PEGINTRON® has shown sustained virologic response (SVR) with a low relapse rate. In fact, a recent study showed an end-of-treatment response to weight-based PEGINTRON® combination therapy of 59.2% compared to 56.8% for those who received fixed dosing. In addition, the study showed that 44.2% of all patients receiving weight-based dosing of PEGINTRON® combination therapy achieved SVR with a 15.3% relapse rate compared to a 40.5% SVR and 19% relapse rate among those who were receiving fixed dose.1
- Easy-to-use PEGINTRON® REDIPEN® - This is a convenient alternative to using a traditional vial and syringe. The PEGINTRON® REDIPEN® is the first and only pen delivery system approved for administering pegylated interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis C.
- Weight-based dosing - The amount of medication in each injection is based on your body weight, to ensure that you receive the precise amount of medication each time. This is not necessarily the case with other pegylated interferons.
Nurse counselors at the The Be In Charge® Program are on your side. They can answer all of your questions about treatment choices, side effects, using PEGINTRON® properly, what to expect from treatment, and can provide other types of support, too. You may also want to review the Treatment Journey: What To Expect for more details.
Pegylated Alpha Interferons (Pegylation)
Pegylated Alpha Interferons:
- Are proven to be more effective than non-pegylated alpha interferons
- Slow chronic hepatitis C by reducing the amount of virus in your body and slowing the damage to your liver
- Require injections only once weekly (less than non-pegylated alpha interferons)
- Watch this video for more details about pegylation
- Also see How PEGINTRON® Works for more details
Combination Therapy
Combination therapy is the most common treatment for chronic hepatitis C:
- Uses pegylated alpha interferons in combination with ribavirin
- Ribavirin (a capsule) is an antiviral drug that, when taken with pegylated alpha interferons, has shown to be effective against chronic hepatitis C. Ribavirin should not be used alone.
- Cannot be used by pregnant women and men whose partners are pregnant
- Recommended by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for patients newly diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C
Effective treatment of any chronic illness can be expensive. Schering's COMMITMENT TO CARE® is a drug reimbursement assistance program to help with financial aid, insurance verification, referrals, and more, for eligible patients.
1 Ira M. Jacobson IM, Brown Jr. RS, Freilich B. et al. Peginterferon alfa-2b and Weight-Based or Flat-Dose Ribavirin in Chronic Hepatitis C Patients: A Randomized Trial. Hepatology. October, 2007. 46(4): 971-981. Available at http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/116323744/PDFSTART. Accessed February 3, 2009
