TY - JOUR T1 - Required concentration index quantifies effective drug combinations against hepatitis C virus infection JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2020.01.09.899807 SP - 2020.01.09.899807 AU - Yusuke Kakizoe AU - Yoshiki Koizumi AU - Yukino Ikoma AU - Hirofumi Ohashi AU - Takaji Wakita AU - Shingo Iwami AU - Koichi Watashi Y1 - 2020/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/01/09/2020.01.09.899807.abstract N2 - Successful clinical drug development requires rational design of combination treatments based on preclinical data. Anti-HCV drugs exhibit significant diversity in antiviral effect. Dose-response assessments can be used to determine parameters profiling the diverse antiviral effect during combination treatment. In the current study, a combined experimental and mathematical approaches were used to compare and score different combinations of anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatments. A “required concentration index” was generated and used to rank the antiviral profile of possible double- and triple-drug combinations against HCV genotype 1 and 2. Rankings varied based on target HCV genotype. Interestingly, multidrug (double and triple) treatment not only augmented antiviral activity, but also reduced genotype-specific efficacy, suggesting another advantage of multidrug treatment. The current study provides a quantitative method for profiling drug combinations against viral genotypes, to better inform clinical drug development. ER -