New once-a-day pill for hepatitis C wins FDA OK

[theHandpuppet]

New once-a-day pill for hepatitis C wins FDA OK
By MATTHEW PERRONE
AP Health Writer
October 10, 2014

WASHINGTON — Federal health officials have approved a daily pill that can cure the most common form of hepatitis C without the grueling pill-and-injection cocktail long used to treat the virus.

But the drug's $1,125-per-pill price is sure to increase criticism of drugmaker Gilead Sciences, whose pricing strategy for an older hepatitis drug has already drawn scorn from patient groups, insurers and politicians worldwide.

The Food and Drug Administration said Friday it cleared Gilead's Harvoni combination pill for patients with genotype 1 of hepatitis C, a form of the liver-destroying virus that accounts for 70 percent of the estimated 3.2 million cases in the U.S. For the first time ever, these patients will not have to take a decades-old combination of antiviral pills and shots that causes flu-like side effects.

The new pill combines Gilead's blockbuster Sovaldi, approved last December, with a new antiviral drug called ledipasvir, which attacks the virus using a different mechanism. The dual-acting approach mimics drug combinations Gilead has long used to treat HIV....

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2014/10/10/3473915/new-once-a-day-pill-for-hep-c.html?sp=/99/131/#storylink=cpy

[uppityperson]

1. Wouldn't that be great

[littlemissmartypants]

4. Indeed. eom

[FarPoint]

2. The trio medication regime is grueling...

The weekly sq Pegasus injection, twice daily ribovirin for 6 months and Incevke 3 times for 12 weeks with 20 grams of fat with each dose....extremely challenging to comply with treatment. The cost is also about $70,000 for 6 month series. If you don't adhere to the time schedule, it won't work. So, I can accept the one pill expensive choice if compliance is reasonable.

[still_one]

3. I know some are upset about the cost, but it is actually cheaper and shorter than current

Treatment protocols