p7 inhibitors could became part of soc. treat.

By Stephen D.C. Griffin From the UNIVERSITY of LEEDS. UK.What then, does the future hold for
the development of p7 inhibitors as
HCV antivirals? The lessons learned
from HIV and from influenza must be
followed if the limited number of available
HCV-specific compounds is to provide
ample coverage; use of these compounds
in isolation would no doubt lead
to their becoming redundant in clinical
use, as is the situation for rimantadine
and influenza. Testing documented p7-
specific drugs in combination with HCV
protease or polymerase inhibitors rather
than IFN/Rib may provide the required
proof of principle of their clinical efficacy
and a means of rapidly adding
drugs already validated in other systems
to the anti-HCV repertoire. The Australian
company Biotron has a new p7 inhibitor,
BIT225, in early stage Ib/IIa
trials, but other examples of such compounds
are not forthcoming. The expansion
of newly available p7 inhibitors will
require either a convenient means of
measuring ion channel activity in highthroughput
systems or a rational approach
achieved through an understanding
of the channel complex structure.
The work of Luik et al. (2) represents
the first major advance toward this goal
and heightens optimism that p7 inhibitors
could become part of the standard
of care HCV therapy.