Welcome to HCV Advocate’s hepatitis blog. The intent of this blog is to keep our website audience up-to-date on information about hepatitis and to answer some of our web site and training audience questions. People are encouraged to submit questions and post comments.

For more information on how to use this blog, the HCV drug pipeline, and for more information on HCV clinical trials
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Be sure to check out our other blogs: The HBV Advocate Blog and Hepatitis & Tattoos.


Alan Franciscus

Editor-in-Chief

HCV Advocate



Showing posts with label hard-to-treat. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hard-to-treat. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Merck Targets Toughest Cases to Gain Hepatitis C Foothold

Merck & Co. plans to target hard-to-treat hepatitis C patients with its cure for the liver ailment rather than compete for market share by drastically undercutting the price of Gilead Sciences Inc.’s $1,000-a-day treatment.

Merck said Tuesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted its application for approval of the single pill, which combines the medications grazoprevir and elbasvir, and granted the medicine a priority review. That means Merck is on course to introduce the treatment to the market early next year.

The field for hepatitis C patients is currently divided between AbbVie Inc. and Gilead, which have locked up arrangements with the leading managers of drug coverage in U.S. health insurance plans, ensuring their medications are the first choice. Still, Merck doesn’t foresee trouble attracting patients.

Read more...

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Curing Hard-to-Treat Hepatitis C

In a new video, NIH researchers and their colleagues from health centers in the District of Columbia discuss efforts to improve treatments for hepatitis C, a potentially life-threatening viral disease that slowly damages the liver. NIH-sponsored clinical studies in the nation’s capital focus on identifying effective, safe, and convenient therapies for hard-to-treat hepatitis C patients, such as those who also have HIV.

 Watch the video