<qa>  What was the purpose of the study?The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficacy of a treatment with TMC435 in combination with peginterferon alfa-2a and ribavirin in patients who did not clear their hepatitis C infection with peginterferon alfa-2a and ribavirin alone within a previous trial conducted by Tibotec, or who participated in Tibotec trials in which antivirals directed against hepatitis C virus HCV were evaluated for short periods of time. 