Hepatitis C Viral Dynamics Using a Combination Therapy of Interferon, Ribavirin, and Telaprevir: Mathematical Modeling and Model Validation

Groundbreaking new drugs called direct acting antivirals have been introduced recently for the treatment of chronic Hepatitis C virus infection.We introduce a mathematical model for Hepatitis C dynamics treated with the direct acting antiviral drug, telaprevir, alongside traditional interferon and ribavirin treatments to understand how this combination therapy affects the viral load of patients exhibiting different types of response.We use sensitivity and identifiability techniques to determine which model parameters can be best estimated from viral load data. Parameter estimationwith these best estimable parameters is then performed to give patient-specific fits of the model to partial virologic response, sustained virologic response and breakthrough patients.