Current treatment for hepatitis C is a pegylated interferon alfa plus ribavirin. This treatment is inadequate for patients with HCV genotype 1, since the majority of patients do not respond (termed non-responders) or respond but relapse (termed relapsers) following termination of these treatments. Data from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Hepatitis C Registry and community hospitals indicate that the large majority of patients identified with hepatitis C have characteristics associated with a poor treatment response and remain untreated at this time. Data have suggested that consensus interferon (CIFN, CIFN or interferon alfacon-1) has greater antiviral activity in vitro compared with interferon alfa-2a or alfa-2b. Preliminary data indicate that more patients with genotype 1 can respond to CIFN and ribavirin than current standard treatments, due to the fact that approximately 25% of patients who are nonresponders to pegylated interferon and ribavirin may have a sustained response to a regimen of daily CIFN and ribavirin. Furthermore, difficult to treat patients may benefit from a longer duration of therapy than the standard 48 week regimen based on when an initial virologic response to therapy occurs.