Incivek (telaprevir) , Victrelis (boceprevir) New Heaptitis C Drugs offer hope
Two new drugs approved for Hepatitis C during May. Both claim higher success rates at clearing the hepatitis C virus than existing standard treatment drugs pegylated interferon and ribavirin.
Although not available in New Zealand yet both have been trialled here on New Zealanders who have benefitted from there increased cure rates.
These new drugs are very pricey and the next challenge will be to make sure those who need them most will get access.
These new drugs will result in a combination of three drugs being taken for hepatitis C treatment “Triple therapy”
Incivek (telaprevir)
Incivek, a pill also known as telaprevir, is poised to help transform treatment of hepatitis C by nearly doubling the chances of curing the serious liver disease compared with current standard treatments
Vertex set a wholesale price of $49,200 for a 12-week regimen of Incivek, which works in combination with current standard drugs pegylated interferon and ribavirin.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/23/us-vertex-idUSTRE74M3I320110523
Information on Incivek from www.hcvadvocate.org
http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/factsheets_pdf/Incivek.pdf
Victrelis (boceprevir)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Victrelis (boceprevir) to treat certain adults with chronic hepatitis C.
“Victrelis is an important new advance for patients with hepatitis C,” said Edward Cox, M.D., M.P.H, director, Office of Antimicrobial Products in FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “This new medication provides an effective treatment for a serious disease, and offers a greater chance of cure for some patients’ hepatitis C infection compared to currently available therapy.”
Victrelis is a pill taken three times a day with food. The therapy is part of a class of drugs referred to as protease inhibitors, which work by binding to the virus and preventing it from multiplying.
The most commonly reported side effects in patients receiving Victrelis in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin include fatigue, low red blood cell count (anemia), nausea, headache and taste distortion (dysgeusia).
Victrelis will cost $1,100 per week, which means patients and insurers will pay between $26,000 and $48,000 for Victrelis, depending on the length of treatment. This price doesn’t include the cost of interferon and Ribavirin
http://www.thestreet.com/story/11119619/1/merck-strikes-first-in-hep-c-drug-battle.html
Information sheet on Victrelis from www.hcvadvocate.org/
http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/factsheets_pdf/Victrelis.pdf
The new Christchurch Hep C Mag
The new Christchurch Hep C Mag Christchurch Online here
http://hepcnz.org/newsletter.html
Hepatitis C screening strategy based on age, rather than risk factors
I always get annoyed at how hepatitis C is labelled the drug users disease. This artificial stigma deters some people from seeking treatment. Which is why this strategy seems much more effective and logical
“A screening strategy based on age, rather than risk factors, could have a significant impact”
this makes more sense to find undiagnosed hep c instead of asking people about risk factors that may have been decades ago
Hepatitis C Auckland treatment numbers
In a previous blog post comparing treatment patterns we noticed Auckland had declined from 88 in 2007 to 45 in 2010.
http://hcv.org.nz/wordpress/?p=275
Although these figures are accurate they don’t take in to account patients treated on Hepatitis C drug trials apparently Auckland patients have been taking the option of drug trails and the actual Auckland figures inclusive of patients on drug trails may actually show an increase in numbers treated.
Ten currently recruiting drug trials for hepatitis c drugs in new Zealand this month with a range of protease inhibitors and some other novel therapies included.
Click here for current hepatitis C drug trials in New Zealand
New Zealander Dr Magdalena Harris has been working on a new study in London
What relevance has this got for HCV prevention and harm reduction interventions in general? Well, what has been a major finding of the Staying Safe study to date is that the safe injecting practices and other protective factors that helped people to avoid HCV were not necessarily motivated by BBV avoidance, but by more pragmatic concerns such as avoiding track marks (for those early in their injecting careers – particularly the Sydney participants), maintaining venous access (primarily London participants) and facilitating a pleasurable injecting experience.
http://injectingadvice.com/articles/guestwrite/241-magdalena1
The saga of the Melbourne clinic hepatitis C Infections continues with
A DOCTOR charged with allegedly infecting 49 women with hepatitis C has been freed on $200,000 bail.
Anaesthetist James Latham Peters, 61, of Hawthorn appeared at the Melbourne Magistrates Court this afternoon, where he faced 162 charges.
Those charges include 54 counts of conduct endangering life, 54 counts of recklessly causing injury and 54 counts of negligence causing serious injury.
Best of Health
www.hcv.org.nz