In October 2011 telaprevir (INCIVO^®) was launched in the UK for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) genotype 1 infection, in combination with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, in adult patients with compensated liver disease who are previously untreated or who have failed previous therapy.

Telaprevir is a peptidomimetic HCV NS3/4A serine protease inhibitor which directly inhibits replication of the hepatitis C virus in HCV-infected host cells.

This review evaluates the phase III trial data that support the use of telaprevir for the licensed indication.