Schering-Plough, which has long dominated the interferon market, sells the very similar polymer-coated interferon called Peg-Intron.
Raison is also internationally recognized for his expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of interferon-alpha-induced depression and anxiety.
In those with a milder form of the disease, they found a protein associated with a bacterial immune response - interferon-gamma.
Whereas in patients with a more serious form of leprosy, a protein associated with a viral response - interferon-beta - was prominent.
Those drugs aim to improve on current treatment regimens based on the immune protein alpha interferon--which often don't work and have an array of nasty side effects.
Not only is interferon-beta an ineffective weapon against bacteria, it can block the action of interferon gamma - which is when bacteria can gain a foothold, the researchers said.
According to Dr Thiagranjan, the new drug scores over the two main drugs used to treat the virus - Lamuvidime and Interferon - because it is highly affordable and does not have the usual side-effects such as aches and pains and hair loss.
BBC: Rashmee Ahmed of the BBC's Asia and Pacific Region reports
The best treatments up to now, interleukin-2 or interferon-alpha, help only 15% of patients.
Two trials, published in the Lancet medical journal, compared the effectiveness of alemtuzumab with a first-choice drug, interferon beta-1a.
But doctors say these generally appear less severe than with the current interferon-based therapies.
WSJ: Hepatitis C Dilemma: Treat Illness With Interferon Now or Wait?
Currently a drug called interferon alpha-2b is given to patients for a 48-week period.
The boost to one in particular, interferon-gamma, was sizeable, a 13.6 fold increase.
Doctors told her she could never take interferon again-a big problem because the main hepatitis C regimens all use this protein.
But interferon-ribavirin regimens clear the most common strain only half the time at most and cause an array of nasty side effects.
Their levels of a hormone called interferon-tau were far lower than normal.
The drug is a synthetic version of interferon gamma-1b, a distant cousin of the more famous virus fighter used against hepatitis and cancer.
The standard interferon alpha-2b treatment three times a week.
Writing in the Lancet medical journal, researchers from The International Hepatitis Interventional Therapy Group report a new treatment for chronic HCV infection that uses a combination of interferon alpha-2b and a drug called ribavirin.
Interferon-free regimens from Gilead and AbbVie Inc.
WSJ: Hepatitis C Dilemma: Treat Illness With Interferon Now or Wait?
Beta-interferon has also been shown in studies to benefit to those with "relapsing-remitting" MS, in which the sufferer's condition is stable in between "attacks", which prove gradually more disabling.
The researchers found that while two-thirds of infants with biliary atresia produced a cytokine called gamma-interferon, the protein was not found in any of the samples of infants with cholestasis.
But the ultimate goal is a two- to three-pill cocktail that could replace interferon and cure the vast majority with few side effects.
In MS, beta-interferon, the most effective treatment produced so far, holds back the number of attacks but does not prevent eventual disease progression.
Anadys Pharmaceuticals is in early-stage human tests with drugs that stimulate the so-called TLR-7 receptor on immune cells to produce interferon just where it is needed.
Doctors have been using a hormone called interferon in combination with anti-viral drugs for several years.
Charities would say that this isn't the issue - beta interferon is the only drug treatment for MS and there are no alternatives.
Last week, Vertex released a press release showing it could reduce infection in patients who had not been helped by interferon therapy, including tough-to-treat patients drug companies often leave out of clinical trials.
But even with shorter regimens, both drugs will still have to be given with interferon alpha, the two-decade old antiviral drug made by Merck and Roche that causes nasty flu like side-effects, including fever and fatigue.
FORBES: Why Aren't There AIDS-Style Cocktails for Hepatitis C?
There are 80, 000 people in the UK with multiple sclerosis - theoretically beta interferon could help about 10% of them, but the reality is that only about 2% actually receive it.
But early data suggest that in combination with interferon and ribavirin, cure rates for hep-C approach 60%.
应用推荐