Editing Interferon (section)

===Drug formulations===
{{more citations needed section|reason=no citations in table/chart|date=November 2021}}
{| class = "wikitable" style = "float:right; font-size:90%; margin-left:15px"
|+Pharmaceutical forms of interferons
! Generic name !! Brand name
|-
| [[Interferon alfa]] || Multiferon
|-
| [[Interferon alpha 2a]] || Roferon A
|-
| [[Interferon alpha 2b]] || Intron A/Reliferon/Uniferon
|-
| Human leukocyte Interferon-alpha (HuIFN-alpha-Le)|| Multiferon
|-
| [[Interferon beta 1a]], liquid form || Rebif
|-
| [[Interferon beta 1a]], lyophilized || Avonex
|-
| [[Interferon beta 1a]], biogeneric (Iran) || Cinnovex
|-
| [[Interferon beta 1b]] || Betaseron / Betaferon
|-
| [[Interferon gamma 1b]] || Actimmune
|-
| [[Peginterferon alfa-2a|PEGylated interferon alpha 2a]] || Pegasys
|-
| [[Peginterferon alfa-2a|PEGylated interferon alpha 2a]] (Egypt) || Reiferon Retard
|-
| [[Peginterferon alfa-2b|PEGylated interferon alpha 2b]] || PegIntron
|-
| [[Ropeginterferon alfa-2b]] || Besremi
|-
| [[Peginterferon alfa-2b|PEGylated interferon alpha 2b]] plus [[ribavirin]] (Canada) || Pegetron
|}

Several different types of interferons are approved for use in humans. One was first approved for medical use in 1986.<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Long SS, Pickering LK, Prober CG |title=Principles and Practice of Pediatric Infectious Disease|date=2012|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences|isbn=978-1437727029|page=1502|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nQ7-o8JAH7kC&pg=PA1502|language=en|access-date=2017-09-01|archive-date=2019-12-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229144313/https://books.google.com/books?id=nQ7-o8JAH7kC&pg=PA1502|url-status=live}}</ref> For example, in January 2001, the [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) approved the use of [[PEGylated]] interferon-alpha in the USA; in this formulation, [[Peginterferon alfa-2b|PEGylated interferon-alpha-2b]] (''Pegintron''), [[polyethylene glycol]] is linked to the interferon molecule to make the interferon last longer in the body.  Approval for [[Peginterferon alfa-2a|PEGylated interferon-alpha-2a]] (''Pegasys'') followed in October 2002.  These PEGylated drugs are injected once weekly, rather than administering two or three times per week, as is necessary for conventional interferon-alpha. When used with the [[antiviral drug]]  [[ribavirin]], PEGylated interferon is effective in treatment of [[hepatitis C]]; at least 75% of people with hepatitis C genotypes 2 or 3 benefit from interferon treatment, although this is effective in less than 50% of people infected with genotype 1 (the more common form of hepatitis C virus in both the U.S. and Western Europe).<ref name="pmid19034963">{{cite journal | vauthors = Jamall IS, Yusuf S, Azhar M, Jamall S | title = Is pegylated interferon superior to interferon, with ribavarin, in chronic hepatitis C genotypes 2/3? | journal = World Journal of Gastroenterology | volume = 14 | issue = 43 | pages = 6627–6631 | date = November 2008 | pmid = 19034963 | pmc = 2773302 | doi = 10.3748/wjg.14.6627 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="pmid14768714">{{cite journal | vauthors =  | title = NIH Consensus Statement on Management of Hepatitis C: 2002 | journal = NIH Consensus and State-of-the-Science Statements | volume = 19 | issue = 3 | pages = 1–46 | year = 2002 | pmid = 14768714 }}</ref><ref name="pmid11990646">{{cite journal | vauthors = Sharieff KA, Duncan D, Younossi Z | title = Advances in treatment of chronic hepatitis C: 'pegylated' interferons | journal = Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine | volume = 69 | issue = 2 | pages = 155–159 | date = February 2002 | pmid = 11990646 | doi = 10.3949/ccjm.69.2.155 | doi-broken-date = 25 February 2025 }}</ref> Interferon-containing regimens may also include [[Protease inhibitor (pharmacology)|protease inhibitors]] such as [[boceprevir]] and [[telaprevir]].

There are also interferon-inducing drugs, notably [[tilorone]]<ref name="stringfellow">{{cite journal | vauthors = Stringfellow DA, Glasgow LA | title = Tilorone hydrochloride: an oral interferon-inducing agent | journal = Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy | volume = 2 | issue = 2 | pages = 73–78 | date = August 1972 | pmid = 4670490 | pmc = 444270 | doi = 10.1128/aac.2.2.73 }}</ref> that is shown to be effective against [[Ebola virus]].<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ekins S, Lingerfelt MA, Comer JE, Freiberg AN, Mirsalis JC, O'Loughlin K, Harutyunyan A, McFarlane C, Green CE, Madrid PB | title = Efficacy of Tilorone Dihydrochloride against Ebola Virus Infection | journal = Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy | volume = 62 | issue = 2 | date = February 2018 | pmid = 29133569 | pmc = 5786809 | doi = 10.1128/AAC.01711-17 }}</ref>