Source: XconomyHIV has taught the pharmaceutical industry that the best way to fight an infectious virus that resists a single drug is to make a cocktail that attacks the virus in more than one way. Vertex Pharmaceuticals and its competitors are now following a similar formula with new therapies for hepatitis C.

Vertex, the Cambridge, MA-based company with operations in San Diego, offered a glimpse last week into its strategy for a two-drug combo that could significantly change hepatitis C treatment. If the company has mapped this out correctly, it could rid people of the virus while letting them ditch the detested standard therapies that force them to endure months of flu-like symptoms. I followed up last Friday to learn more from a conversation with Vertex's chief medical officer, Bob Kauffman.

The big story from the past couple years at Vertex (NASDAQ: VRTX) is the development of its first-in-class protease inhibitor drug called telaprevir. This oral pill, taken two or three times a day, must be combined with the pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin. It has excited researchers because it has been able to double the cure rate while shortening the course of therapy by half. That means that many more of 170 million people worldwide with chronic hepatitis C liver infections will be likely to seek out treatment, and be able to stand up to the side effects of standard therapy over a shorter period of time. If the ongoing clinical trials to test this idea are successful this year, Vertex could bring telaprevir to the market in 2011. U.S. sales alone could amount to more than $2 billion after a couple years, researchers say. Read more here