In patients treated over the same 24 weeks with interferon alfa-2b and placebo, only 4.7 percent of patients had a sustained loss of the virus. ICN Pharmaceuticals, which discovered ribavirin, currently markets the drug as Virazole in a variety of dosage forms for at least one of 10 indications in 44 countries.
Ribavirin is a synthetic nucleoside analog with broad-spectrum antiviral activity.
Interferon alfa-2b is a recombinant version of naturally occurring alpha interferon, which has been shown to exert both antiviral and immunomodulatory effects. In a small percentage of patients depression has also been noted. With antiviral therapy, what was once an untreatable disease is now becoming treatable in some patients. Hepatitis C Chronic hepatitis C is estimated to affect some 10 million people in major world markets. Approximately 240,000 Canadians have hepatitis C. Hepatitis C is a chronic liver disease.