Hepatitis C

In a somewhat bittersweet result for drugmaker Janssen, a United Kingdom health agency has recommended funding its hepatitis C drug for some patients but not for others.

Increased prevalence of hepatitis C infection among the nation's young is the subject of a new federally funded study underway in New Mexico.

A generic version of Gilead Science's hepatitis C drug Sovaldi will be produced in India and sold there and in other poorer countries at what is likely to be a fraction of what it costs in the United States.

As Gilead's Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) hit the market in December 2013, its price of $84,000 for a 12-week treatment course caused many insurers to balk, including ExpressScripts, Catamaran Corp, Aetna, and CVS/Caremark.1 Their concerns were not unfounded: Recently, UnitedHealth reported an 8% dip in profits in the first quarter of 2014 due, in part, to $100 million in additional medical costs resulting from rapid uptake of Sovaldi.

At least 8 phase III clinical trials in the United States were recruiting participants for studies of treatments for chronic hepatitis C virus (HVC) infection as of late June 2014.

In a phase II trial, combination treatment with Gilead's simeprevir (Olysio) and Janssen's simeprevir (Sovaldi) yielded functional cure rates exceeding 90% in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) who received 12 weeks of therapy-even among difficult-to-treat patients.

Understanding the current guidelines for hepatitis C (HCV) treatment and the role of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents is a priority for healthcare professionals.

The Fair Pricing Coalition (FPC) works closely with the pharmaceutical industry to ensure patient access to copay and patient assistant programs (PAPs) for people with HCV. Most pharmaceutical companies have collaborated with the FPC to coordinate programs that are typically based on income adjusted for family and/or household size.

The clinical management of patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection represents an ideal opportunity for the benefits of precision medicine and the individualization of patient care. This is particularly true given the importance of genetic and nongenetic factors that have recently been identified as critical to HCV infection management.

An estimated 3.3% of people in the United States born between 1945 and 1965 have chronic hepatitis C infection. The increased risk of infection in this population has recently led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to recommend one-time hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing for all persons in this age cohort.

Review by a German commission also found major benefits in patients who had not responded to prior treatment with other medications.

Although it is widely understood that hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are the leading causes of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, an alarming number of HBV and HCV carriers have unhealthy habits that result in poor liver health.

The costs of Medicare associated with Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), an emerging hepatitis C drug, will vary depending on how many people are given the treatment, a blog in Health Affairs found.

The European Commission (EU) has granted Bristol-Myers Squibb's Daklinza (daclatasvir) approval for an all-oral drug regimen for the treatment of four genotypes of chronic hepatitis C infection.

Surgeons transplanted a kidney from a donor who had hepatitis C to a recipient who also has the disease in what is believed to be the first of its kind in the state of Utah.

With the recent approval of new hepatitis C treatments, payers are increasingly concerned with controlling costs in this category through policies that may affect treatment decisions.

The United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is recommending Sovaldi as a cost-effective option to treat some people who have chronic hepatitis C.

Between developing its own pipeline of therapies for patients with hepatitis C and acquiring another company known for its work in this field, it looks like Merck is taking steps to be a larger player in HCV market.

An emerging epidemic of acute hepatitis C threatens the country's younger population, which experienced a significant hike in the number of cases during a recent 6-year period, according to a compound study that looked at trends of the disease among youth.

Nonmedical prescription opiate use is linked to the dramatic increase in heroin use from 2007 to 2012, according to a study from New York University's Center for Drug Use and HIV Research.

Hepatitis C genotype 1 is the most common of half a dozen genotypes of the virus and accounts for nearly half of all cases, according to results from global analysis conducted by researchers in the United Kingdom.

A combination oral treatment of sofosbuvir and ribavirin resulted in high cure rates of hepatitis C among a patient population that also was infected with HIV.

A team of researchers has discovered a new course of treatment that could be a major step in curing those co-infected with hepatitis C virus and HIV.

The US Senate Finance Committee recently requested detailed pricing information on Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), its breakthrough oral treatment for hepatitis C.

Although it is widely understood that hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are the leading causes of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, an alarming number of HBV and HCV carriers have unhealthy habits that result in poor liver health.

Japanese regulators have approved an all-oral daclatsvir plus asunaprevir drug regimen developed by Bristol-Meyers Squibb to treat patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C.

Stephen Vogt, PharmD, Chief Executive Officer and President of BioPlus Specialty Pharmacy, discusses the ongoing debate surrounding the high price of Hepatitis C treatments versus the efficacy of the drug.

A recent study found that the hepatitis C virus decays during treatment with telaprevir faster in the bloodstream than it does in the liver, a discovery that could help pinpoint how long a patient needs to take medicine to rid the virus from the body.

Study results show hepatic decompensation is more common in people who have both HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) compared to those infected only with HCV, an indication that early HCV treatment among coinfected patients is needed.

Saliva tests for detecting anti–hepatitis C antibodies may not be as effective in patients who also have an HIV infection.