The best treatments up to now, interleukin-2 or interferon-alpha, help only 15% of patients.

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Raison is also internationally recognized for his expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of interferon-alpha-induced depression and anxiety.

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Currently a drug called interferon alpha-2b is given to patients for a 48-week period.

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The standard interferon alpha-2b treatment three times a week.

BBC: Better treatment for Hepatitis C

Writing in the Lancet medical journal, researchers from The International Hepatitis Interventional Therapy Group report a new treatment for chronic HCV infection that uses a combination of interferon alpha-2b and a drug called ribavirin.

BBC: Better treatment for Hepatitis C

Those drugs aim to improve on current treatment regimens based on the immune protein alpha interferon--which often don't work and have an array of nasty side effects.

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But even with shorter regimens, both drugs will still have to be given with interferon alpha, the two-decade old antiviral drug made by Merck and Roche that causes nasty flu like side-effects, including fever and fatigue.

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