The first prospective longitudinal study of outcomes from treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) suggests the drugs could halve mortality rates among patients with hepatitis C.

The five-year French study of almost 10,000 patients, published in the Lancet, shows that patients who received DAAs had a 52% lower risk of death compared with untreated patients at any time during the follow-up of nearly three years.

This was after adjusting for variables such as liver disease score at entry.

In an accompanying commentary, US and Australian doctors said the findings would “firmly counter” suggestions that the clinical benefits of DAAs were unclear.