Scientists have reported the successful eradication of hepatitis C in patients using two new antiviral drugs, raising hopes of a possible cure. In the trial, the virus was eliminated from almost all the patients involved, including those who had not previously responded to existing drugs.

Hepatitis C is caused by a virus that spreads via bodily fluids and ends up damaging the liver. Unlike other forms of hepatitis, there is no vaccine and the only treatments include powerful combinations of drugs known as interferons and protease inhibitors.

But the treatments have many side-effects, are complex to administer and, in the common type of hepatitis C known as genotype 1, the drugs do not work. If an infection cannot be cured, it can lead to liver cancer. The new treatment, reported in medical journal the Lancet on Tuesday , consists of the experimental drugs sofosbuvir and ledipasvir.

In the trial, 100 patients with genotype 1 hepatitis C were split into groups and given the drugs in a single pill for either eight or 12 weeks. Forty of the participants had previously failed to respond to drugs and half of this group had cirrhotic livers.

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