Current hepatitis C treatments are made up of combinations of drugs called direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) directly target the hep C virus in different ways to stop it from making copies of itself and do this so well that they promise a much brighter future for people living with hepatitis C. DAAs promise shorter treatment times, much higher cure rates, and fewer side effects.
There are four classes of direct-acting antivirals that combine in different ways to make up the different hep C DAA treatments.
The Four Classes of DAAs
| The Four Classes of DAAs | Very Roughly What the DAAs Do | DAAs Not Covered by BC PharmaCare (Targeted Genotypes in brackets) | DAAs Covered by BC PharmaCare (Targeted Genotypes in brackets) |
| NS3/4A Protease Inhibitors (PIs) | NS3/4A protease inhibitors work by blocking a viral enzyme (protease) that enables the hep C virus to survive and replicate in host cells. |
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| Nucleoside and Nucleotide NS5B Polymerase Inhibitors | They directly target the hep C virus to stop it from making copies of itself in the liver. They attach themselves onto the genetic information, called RNA, to block the virus from multiplying. |
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| NS5A Inhibitors | They block a virus protein, NS5A, that HCV needs to reproduce and for various stages of infection. |
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| Non-Nucleoside NS5B Polymerase Inhibitors | They work to stop HCV from reproducing by inserting themselves into the virus so that other pieces of the hep C virus cannot attach to it. |
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| *AbbVie’s Holkira Pak is a treatment made up of 3 DAAs (ombitasvir, paritaprevir, and dasabuvir) and ritonavir. Ritonavir is a booster for paritaprevir, a protease inhibitor (PI). Holkira Pak treats hep C genotype 1a/b. Technivie is a treatment made up of 2 DAAs (ombitasvir and paritaprevir) and ritonavir. It treats hep C genotype 4 infections. **BC PharmaCare covers Sovaldi to treat hep C genotypes 1-3 but not genotype 4. ***Sovaldi and ledipasvir make up Harvoni. |
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