Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the major reasons for causing chronic hepatic disease worldwide. Treatment options for patients infected with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) have effectually ameliorated over the last few years. Now, various novel antiviral drugs have been licensed for its treatment. Introduction of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for HCV therapy represents a major advancement with regard to sustained virologic response (SVR) rates and associated adverse effect (AEs) profiling. Systematically, DAAs specifically impede different nonstructural proteins of HCV including NS3/4A protease, NS5A protein, and NS5B polymerase. In spite of those DAAs, therapy is confronting multiple challenges such as possible drug-drug interactions and severe side effects including liver failure. This chapter discusses the safety and tolerability of DAAs relevant to associated side effects emphasizing their clinical pharmacology. Considering the increased HCV prevalence rate and interpreting safety data of DAA regimens approved in the USA, Europe, Russia, Australia, and Japan, this chapter also presents the pre- and post-marketing safety data. Eventually, the important safety issues of drug–drug interactions (DDIs) have also been discussed in brief.
Part of the book: Hepatitis C