Novel Pegylated Interferon for the Treatment of Chronic Viral Hepatitis
Yi-Wen Huang 1 2 3 , Albert Qin 4 , Chan-Yen Tsai 4 , Pei-Jer Chen 5 6
Affiliations
Affiliations
1
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Research Center, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
2
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan.
3
School of Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
4
PharmaEssentia Corporation, Taipei 115, Taiwan.
5
Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
6
Hepatitis Research Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
PMID: 35746606 DOI: 10.3390/v14061128
Abstract
Ropeginterferon alfa-2b is a novel mono-pegylated and extra-long-acting interferon, being developed for the treatment of myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) and chronic viral hepatitis. It has a favorable pharmacokinetic profile and less frequent dosing schedule, i.e., once every two to four weeks, compared to conventional pegylated interferon products, which have multiple isomers and are administered weekly. It was approved for the long-term treatment of polycythemia vera, an MPN, and has been included in the NCCN clinical practice guidelines for this indication. Ropeginterferon alfa-2b has demonstrated efficacy and showed a favorable safety profile for the treatment of chronic viral hepatitis in several clinical studies. In this article, we review its pharmacokinetics and available clinical data and suggest that ropeginterferon alfa-2b administered once every two weeks can serve as a new treatment option for patients with chronic viral hepatitis, including chronic hepatitis B, C, and D.