A publication of the Official Journaldated March 8 specifies that the drug Maviret® is now available in double dispensation, both in town and in hospital. This drug, which combines two second-generation direct-acting antivirals (glecaprevir and pibrentasvir), is used to treat hepatitis C patients chronic, regardless of the genotype of the virus.
According to the American laboratory Abbvie, which markets this drug, it is also a therapeutic option for certain patients who are more difficult to treat:
• those suffering from compensated cirrhosis (whatever the genotype)
• HCV / HIV-1 co-infected patients
• patients with severe chronic kidney disease (CRF)
• patients with genotype 32 HCV infection.
28,000 euros per patient
The treatment is short: 3 tablets a day to be taken for 8 weeks only and is effective in 9 out of 10 cases. Its price has been set at 28,000 euros per patient. For patients with cirrhosis, the treatment should last 12 weeks and its price has been set at 42,000 euros.
“One of the causes of patient non-compliance is the distance from the hospital, which is why it is important that these drugs be available in town pharmacies” underlines Dr Marc Bourlière, hepatologist in Marseille.
Hepatitis C is responsible for 2,500 deaths per year and according to health authorities, 75,000 people would not know that they are carriers of the virus. Doctors from the French Hepatology Society are therefore calling for the establishment of a vast information campaign on the disease but also organized screening for hepatitis C as is the case for the breast cancer where the Colon Cancer.
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Hepatitis C: 3 million screening tests per year
Hepatitis C: soon the eradication of the disease
