Victrelis

Generic name:boceprevir [ boe-SEP-re-vir ]
Drug class:Protease inhibitors

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com. Last updated on Mar 24, 2022.

What is Victrelis?

Victrelis is an antiviral medicine that prevents certain viruses from multiplying in your body.

Victrelis is used in combination with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, or with sofosbuvir to treat hepatitis C genotype 1 in adults.

Read the medication guide or patient instructions provided with each medication in your combination therapy. Do not change your doses or medication schedule without your doctor's advice.

Victrelis may also be used for purposes not listed in this medication guide.

Warnings

Victrelis is used in combination with other medications called peginterferon alfa and ribavirin.

Do not use Victrelis with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin if you are pregnant, or if you are a man and your female sexual partner is pregnant. Ribavirin can cause birth defects or death in an unborn baby.

Some medicines can interact with boceprevir and should not be used at the same time. Tell your doctor about all your current medicines and any you start or stop using.

Before taking this medicine

You should not use Victrelis if you are allergic to boceprevir.

Do not take Victrelis as your only hepatitis medicine. Victrelis must be used in combination with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin. Read the medication guide or patient instructions provided with each medicine you take. In some cases, you may not be able to use this drug combination.

Some medicines can cause unwanted or dangerous effects when used with Victrelis. Your doctor may need to change your treatment plan if you use any of the following drugs:

• cisapride;

• drospirenone (Yasmin, Yaz, Beyaz, Angeliq, and others);

• lurasidone or pimozide;

• rifampin;

• St. John's wort;

• alfuzosin, doxazosin, silodosin, tamsulosin;

• lovastatin or simvastatin;

• oral midazolam or triazolam;

• ergonovine, ergotamine, dihydroergotamine, methylergonovine;

• the seizure medications carbamazepine, phenobarbital, or phenytoin; or

• sildenafil (Revatio) or tadalafil (Adcirca) when used to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension.

To make sure you can safely take Victrelis, tell your doctor if you have:

• liver problems other than hepatitis C (including hepatitis B);

• a history of liver or other organ transplant; or

• low white blood cell (WBC) or red blood cell (RBC) counts, or low levels of platelets in in your blood.

Victrelis is given together with interferon alfa and ribavirin. Ribavirin can cause birth defects or death in an unborn baby. You may need to have a negative pregnancy test before using these medications together, and every month during your treatment.

• If you are a woman, do not use ribavirin if ...