Gilead (Nasdaq: GILD) and AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) Hep. C drugs were both given prefered status at Prime. A press release is below.
People with Hepatitis C who are served by pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics LLC (Prime) will now have greater support for the treatment recommended by their physician. This is a result of new agreements between Prime and pharmaceutical companies Gilead Sciences and AbbVie. Beginning immediately, the agreements place both Gilead's Harvoni® and AbbVie's Viekira Pak® on Prime's preferred drug list (formulary), meaning members can more easily get the medicine they need to feel better and live well.
"There has been a substantial reduction in the net price of both of these drugs just in the past few weeks, so sometimes it pays not to go first," said Peter Wickersham, senior vice president of Integrated Care and Specialty, Prime. "It was clear that neither Gilead nor AbbVie wanted to be left off our formulary and the result proved to be significantly better than taking an exclusive position."
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Monday, January 12, 2015
Access to Hepatitis C Therapy Listening Session with Community Stakeholders
Last month, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) convened a listening session on the important issue of access to curative treatment for hepatitis C virus infection. While the advent of more effective, second-generation direct-acting antivirals for the treatment of hepatitis C represents a tremendous scientific accomplishment and a potential public health triumph, community leaders and other stakeholders have raised serious concerns about barriers to treatment access. Many of these concerns had been expressed in a community sign-on letter sent to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell in early September 2014.
The listening session was hosted by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and led by Dr. Wanda Jones, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health. The Acting Assistant Secretary for Health, Dr. Karen DeSalvo, was able to attend the initial portion of the meeting, which took place at the Humphrey Building on December 9, 2014. Twelve stakeholders representing healthcare providers, advocates, persons infected with HCV, representatives of professional organizations, and national leaders from a variety of disciplines joined federal leaders from across HHS to share information about HCV treatment access barriers and their impact on people living with chronic viral hepatitis.
The stakeholders who attended the meeting were especially concerned about restrictions on access to the new HCV treatments put in place by payers, which, in the stakeholders’ opinion, do not appear to be medically justified. Listed below are three examples of restrictions, shared by the community stakeholders:
- See more at: http://blog.aids.gov/2015/01/access-to-hepatitis-c-therapy-listening-session-with-community-stakeholders.html#sthash.qDA29lEs.dpuf
The listening session was hosted by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and led by Dr. Wanda Jones, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health. The Acting Assistant Secretary for Health, Dr. Karen DeSalvo, was able to attend the initial portion of the meeting, which took place at the Humphrey Building on December 9, 2014. Twelve stakeholders representing healthcare providers, advocates, persons infected with HCV, representatives of professional organizations, and national leaders from a variety of disciplines joined federal leaders from across HHS to share information about HCV treatment access barriers and their impact on people living with chronic viral hepatitis.
The stakeholders who attended the meeting were especially concerned about restrictions on access to the new HCV treatments put in place by payers, which, in the stakeholders’ opinion, do not appear to be medically justified. Listed below are three examples of restrictions, shared by the community stakeholders:
- See more at: http://blog.aids.gov/2015/01/access-to-hepatitis-c-therapy-listening-session-with-community-stakeholders.html#sthash.qDA29lEs.dpuf
Merck Accelerates Lung Cancer, Hepatitis C Drugs
Merck plans to file an application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the first half of 2015 for the grazoprevir and elbasvir once-daily combination hepatitis C medicine, the company said in a statement today, joining AbbVie Inc. (ABBV:US) and Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD:US) in creating drug cocktails that can treat the disease in many patients. Merck also plans to apply for permission to expand use of the melanoma treatment Keytruda into non-small cell lung cancer patients.
Merck replaced its head of research in 2013 with Roger Perlmutter and focused development efforts on oncology, hepatitis C, cardiometabolic disease, antimicrobial resistance and Alzheimer’s disease. The Kenilworth, New Jersey-based company has needed new approvals to make up for a decline in sales from the asthma drug Singulair, which lost patent protection in the U.S. in 2012 and in Europe in 2013. Singulair sales fell from $5.5 billion in 2011 to $1.2 billion in 2013.
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Merck replaced its head of research in 2013 with Roger Perlmutter and focused development efforts on oncology, hepatitis C, cardiometabolic disease, antimicrobial resistance and Alzheimer’s disease. The Kenilworth, New Jersey-based company has needed new approvals to make up for a decline in sales from the asthma drug Singulair, which lost patent protection in the U.S. in 2012 and in Europe in 2013. Singulair sales fell from $5.5 billion in 2011 to $1.2 billion in 2013.
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Australia: The miracle cure with a billion-dollar price tag
It's been hailed as a miracle cure for hepatitis C – but comes with a billion-dollar price tag.
The Commonwealth government is under pressure to subsidise Sovaldi, produced by drug company Gilead, that has been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration but has been rejected for listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme on value-for-money grounds.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, the independent expert body that decides which drugs should be subsidised, will consider a second application to list the drug at its March meeting, along with applications to list three other new hepatitis treatments.
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The Commonwealth government is under pressure to subsidise Sovaldi, produced by drug company Gilead, that has been approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration but has been rejected for listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme on value-for-money grounds.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, the independent expert body that decides which drugs should be subsidised, will consider a second application to list the drug at its March meeting, along with applications to list three other new hepatitis treatments.
Read more...
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Spain: Health Thousands Protest in Spain for Better Hepatitis C Treatment
Thousands of people affected by hepatitis C have marched in several Spanish cities to press for easier access to latest-generation medicines for the deadly liver disease.
The Platform of People Affected by Hepatitis C, which organized the protests, says the government is applying a "confused and selective" approach to treatment by not providing expensive drugs to all patients equally.
One protest started early Saturday at Madrid's 12 de Octubre hospital and marched 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's office.
India: HCV infection in hemodialysis patients raises concerns
AURANGABAD: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection which is an important pathogen causing liver disease is becoming a major public health problem, with an estimated 25% to 40% prevalence in India. Raising concern over the issue, experts said patients on multiple blood transfusions have a high risk for HCV due to the involvement of multiple routes of infections, especially poor blood screening of blood and low standard of dialysis procedures.
They were speaking at a workshop at Dattaji Bhale blood bank, organised by the Aurangabad Thalassemia Society to create awareness about thalassemia on Friday.
Mahendrasingh H Chauhan, medical director and in charge of the blood bank said that high prevalence of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been reported among dialysis patients throughout the world. Serious efforts need to be taken to investigate HCV in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) treatment who are at great risk to HCV infection.
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They were speaking at a workshop at Dattaji Bhale blood bank, organised by the Aurangabad Thalassemia Society to create awareness about thalassemia on Friday.
Mahendrasingh H Chauhan, medical director and in charge of the blood bank said that high prevalence of Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been reported among dialysis patients throughout the world. Serious efforts need to be taken to investigate HCV in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) treatment who are at great risk to HCV infection.
Read more...
Friday, January 9, 2015
Health Care-Associated Hepatitis C Infections Reviewed
As a new year begins, the spread of hepatitis C infection through the health care system continues to be a public health concern and is the subject of a review study that appeared in the December 14 issue of World Journal of Gastroenterology.
The article authors support an increase in efforts to inform and educate health care workers on the risks inherent in blood-borne infections. It also stresses the importance of wide spread adoption of standard precautions among health care workers such as regular hand washing and wearing of protective gloves, masks and gowns, as well as work practices and safe injection practices with single-use disposable needles and syringes.
“Despite the absence of a prophylactic vaccine, most of the conditions are met for controlling the HCV risk in health care settings,” state the authors. “With the conviction that where there is will there is a way, this goal can and must be achieved in the next years.”
- See more at: http://www.hcplive.com/articles/Health-Care-Associated-Hepatitis-C-Infections-Reviewed#sthash.txaJLpsB.dpuf
The article authors support an increase in efforts to inform and educate health care workers on the risks inherent in blood-borne infections. It also stresses the importance of wide spread adoption of standard precautions among health care workers such as regular hand washing and wearing of protective gloves, masks and gowns, as well as work practices and safe injection practices with single-use disposable needles and syringes.
“Despite the absence of a prophylactic vaccine, most of the conditions are met for controlling the HCV risk in health care settings,” state the authors. “With the conviction that where there is will there is a way, this goal can and must be achieved in the next years.”
- See more at: http://www.hcplive.com/articles/Health-Care-Associated-Hepatitis-C-Infections-Reviewed#sthash.txaJLpsB.dpuf
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