What's next for hepatitis C virus research?

Recently, a fellow grant reviewer raised concerns about the significance of a basic research proposal on hepatitis C virus (HCV), stating, “There’s already a cure for HCV.” At the time, I found it ironic that this reviewer was known for their work on viruses unassociated with any human disease; nevertheless, the reviewer had a point: The HCV research community needs to justify its existence. The conquest of HCV is one of the great success stories of basic, translational, and clinical virus research. Several HCV targets have been identified, potent inhibitors have been developed, and directacting antiviral (DAA) drugs have been approved and successfully deployed in the clinic. We are now in the postinterferon era of HCV treatment, with sustained virological response rates exceeding 90% after 8 weeks of combined DAA therapy. The current challenges are not to develop new antiviral strategies, but to optimize treatment regimens and deliver them cost effectively. Therefore, it is difficult to justify basic HCV research funding based on developing novel antiviral strategies. Yet, there are many unmet research priorities and important reasons to further study HCV, which I outline here.