Formulary Management of the Protease Inhibitors Boceprevir and Telaprevir for Chronic Hepatitis C Virus

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the most common chronic bloodborne illness in the United States. The incidence of acute hepatitis C in the United States peaked near 50,000 cases in the late 1980s but has stabilized since 2003 to less than 5,000 cases annually. The combination of pegylated interferon (peginterferon) and ribavirin has been the standard recommended treatment for HCV. Protease inhibitors telaprevir and boceprevir were approved by the FDA in May 2011 for the treatment of hepatitis C genotype 1 in combination with peginterferon and ribavirin.