Wednesday, April 5, 2017

The HepC Pill Bill An insight into the availability, pricing and accessibility of HCV treatment

The HepC Pill Bill An insight into the availability, pricing and accessibility of HCV treatment
By Mrinalini Anand
4 April 2017

Introduction to Direct Acting Antivirals

Hepatitis C treatment has remarkably evolved over the years. The previously known standard HCV regimen consisted of a course of pegylated interferon injections and ribavirin tablets, which all in all were expensive, toxic, and needed 24 to 28 weeks to act. With the advent of new Direct Acting Antivirals (DAAs) in 2011, HCV regimens changed significantly. Sofosbuvir became the first drug to be approved for the new generation HCV treatment. DAAs have an edge over the previous medications, in the aspects of, being better tolerated and being more efficient in a shorter duration (90% cure rates after the first 12 weeks of treatment).

There are four classes of DAAs: 1) NS3/4A protease inhibitors 2) NS5A inhibitors 3) NS5B nucleotide polymerase inhibitors and 4) NSFB non-nucleoside polymerase inhibitors. They all block essential proteins hence effecting various phases of the HCV life cycle.

DAAs being highly safe and secure are unfortunately not available to all. The WHO estimates that just over 1 million people were effectively treated in 2016 in low- and middle-income countries, with more than half of them in Egypt alone.

Continue reading....

The controversy over expensive new drugs for hepatitis C
Link to research and news articles addressing the high cost of hepatitis C drugs; insurance restrictions - private insurers/Medicaid - and availability of generic versions/India, Egypt and other lower-income countries or through online "buyers clubs"

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