Inventor of Hepatitis C Cure Wins a Major Prize - and Turns to the Next Battle

Inventor of Hepatitis C Cure Wins a Major Prize—and Turns to the Next Battle  

Lasker Award winner Michael Sofia created a pill to fight an incurable virus. Now he is setting his sights on another

By Dina Fine Maron on September 13, 2016

Better known as Sovaldi, the drug managed to recast hepatitis C from a hard-to-treat illness into an easily managed one that can be cured in just a few months...

...Michael Sofia, has netted a prestigious Lasker Award for revolutionizing hepatitis C care. Lasker Awards, which recognize scientists’ major contributions to medical science or those who have performed public service on behalf of the field, are often considered a pit stop on the way to a Nobel Prize....

[An edited transcript of the interview follows.]

From a drug research standpoint, what is particularly challenging when it comes to hepatitis C as opposed to hepatitis B or hepatitis A [both of which have vaccines available]?
Each of these viruses have their own unique challenges. I’m working on trying to identify a cure for hepatitis B right now. It is a very different virus than hepatitis C.

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Title:	Inventor of Hepatitis C Cure Wins a Major Prize--and Turns to the Next Battle
Author:	Dina Fine Maron
Publication:	Scientific American
Publisher:	Scientific American, a division of Nature America, Inc.
Date:	Sep 13, 2016