VICTRELIS

If you have chronic hepatitis C, your healthcare provider may prescribe VICTRELIS. This medication comes in the form of a capsule and is taken three times a day. To use this medicine, your treatment regimen must also include peginterferon alfa and ribavirin. Although generally well tolerated, this medication can cause side effects such as fatigue, nausea, and headache.

What Is VICTRELIS?

VICTRELIS™ (boceprevir) is a prescription medication approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C in combination with two other medications: peginterferon alfa (Pegasys®, PEG-Intron®) and ribavirin (Copegus®, Rebetol®, Ribapak®, Ribasphere®). VICTRELIS is designed for use in adults who have stable liver disease and have not been previously treated for hepatitis C, or who have failed previous treatment.
 
(Click VICTRELIS Uses for more information on this topic, including possible off-label uses.)
 

Who Makes This Medication?

VICTRELIS is made by Merck & Co., Inc.
 

How Does VICTRELIS Work?

VICTRELIS belongs to a group of medications called protease inhibitors.
 It works by inhibiting the activity of enzymes called proteases. Protease enzymes are used by the hepatitis C virus to clip long protein strands into shorter usable strands. The virus then uses these shorter strands to replicate, or reproduce, itself. By blocking these protease enzymes, VICTRELIS prevents the hepatitis C virus from replicating.
 
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Written by/reviewed by: Susan Lakey, PharmD, MPH
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD
 
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