Biocortech announced that it has received a favorable notification from Comité de Protection des Personnes (CPP, an ethical research committee whose approval is mandatory to begin clinical trials) for starting a proof of concept clinical trial, to validate a biological test of depression. On the basis of a recently discovered mechanism called receptor editing, the company has designed the blood test. This mechanism effects on specific cell receptors that have been correlated to depression disorders or suicidal behavior. Enrolled patients are hepatitis C infected and will be treated for the first time with pegylated interferon and ribavirin, known to cause depression and mood changes. The clinical trial will be conducted at the Nouvel Hôpital Civil de Strasbourg, France, in collaboration with Professor M. Doffoel (hepatologist, Pôle de Référence Alsace Hépatites Virales), Dr JP Lang (psychiatrist) and Dr C.Brandt (CIC, Inserm, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg) who have a very high recruitment of patients. The aim of the study is to compare clinically assessed alterations of mood, using the more recent state of the art recommendations, with levels of blood biomarkers related to receptor editing. The study will consist in dosing blood circulating markers and in clinically assessing patient depression in parallel, before and during treatment, over a four month period, each patient being in control.