Merck & Co., Inc.'s VICTRELIS(TM) (boceprevir), First-in-Class Oral Hepatitis C Virus Protease Inhibitor, Approved in the European Union for Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, today announced that the European Commission (EC) has approved VICTRELISTM (boceprevir) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) genotype 1 infection, in combination with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, in adult patients with compensated liver disease who are previously untreated or who have failed previous therapy. Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a potentially serious viral infection of the liver that affects an estimated 4 million people in Europe.