Efficacy and Safety Study of Peginterferon Alfa-2b in Chinese Chronic Hepatitis C Patients

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Peginterferon alfa-2b (40KD, Y shape, the followings will refer as Ypeginterferon alfa-2b for short), at a dose of 180μg/week, in combination with Ribavirin in Chinese chronic hepatitis C patients. The study will first group patients into two sub-study, genotype 2/3 and non-genotype 2/3, depending on the HCV genotype that infected. In the genotype 2/3 sub-study about 219 patients will be enrolled, and eligible patients are randomized at 2:1 ratio into Ypeginterferon alfa-2b group or active control group (Pegasys), receiving 24 weeks of interferon therapy and oral daily Ribavirin at a dose of 800mg/d. In the non-genotype 2/3 sub-study about 507 patients will be enrolled, and eligible patients are randomized at 2:1 ratio into Ypeginterferon alfa-2b group or active control group (Pegasys), receiving 48 weeks of interferon therapy and oral daily Ribavirin 1000-1200mg/day , basing on body weight. All patients will be followed for 24 weeks after the end of therapy.