US scientists have discovered a way to block replication of the hepatitis C virus, potentially leading to better treatment for the top cause of liver cancer in the United States, a study said Wednesday. In vitro experiments identified a protein that is essential to the reproductive cycle of the hepatitis C virus (HCV), the researchers said. An altered synthetic version ...

In a story Jan. 11 about Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its hepatitis C drug, The Associated Press misstated when the company will seek regulatory approval for the drug. Approval will be requested in the second half of 2010, not 2009.

Biotechnology company Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday it plans to seek regulatory approval of the experimental hepatitis C drug telaprevir as scheduled during the second half of 2009. Telaprevir is one of several potential hepatitis C treatments in development. If approved, it could face competition ...

They're the overlooked viruses: Hepatitis B and C together infect three to five times more Americans than the AIDS virus does, and most don't know it. In the next 10 years, these two liver-damaging infections will kill about 150,000 people in the U.S. alone, says a new report Monday from the prestigious Institute of Medicine. It ...