Use of Antihistamine Compounds for the Treatment of Hepatitis C Virus

The vast majority of people infected with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) will have chronic infection. Over decades, this can lead to liver disease and liver cancer. In fact, HCV infection is the leading cause of liver transplants in the U.S. Several new drugs have recently come into the market that will likely change the HCV treatment paradigm. However, the effectiveness of these new drugs can vary depending on the HCV genotype. Thus, there is still the need for additional new therapeutics against HCV.

The subject technology are small molecule compounds identified using a novel cell-based high throughput assay of HCV infection. The compounds are antihistamines that show potent antiviral properties against HCV. One advantage of these compounds is that they are already on the market for the treatment of allergic reactions and, thus, have been used extensively in humans and have excellent safety profiles with known pharmaceutical properties. The subject technology can also potentially be used in combination with other HCV therapeutics.