Victrelis is the start of a new era. Millions of hepatitis C positive patients around the world will benefit from this drug once its final draft guidance is confirmed and England's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) approves the drug for use. Victrelis is a new drug developed to combat hepatitis C in a way that no other currently available drug or therapy can. It is the first major advancement in the treatment of hepatitis C in over a decade.
See also: Hepatitis C Clinical Trials
Boceprevir, marketed as Victrelis by America's Merck & Co., can treat the most common subtype of chronic hepatitis C (genotype 1) for patients with liver disease. Most patients diagnosed with genotype 1 are treated with the drugs peginterferon alfa and ribavirin. About 40% of these patients are cured. Using boceprevir in addition to these aforementioned medications increases the treatment rate to 70%. Peginterferon alfa and ribavirin enhance the strength of the immune system and Victrelis narrows in on the virus and prevents the virus from further replication.
The infectious disease hepatitis C is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The disease, known vernacularly as €hep C€, primarily affects the liver and can cause severe scarring in chronic cases. The severe scarring may lead to cirrhosis and either liver failure, deathly esophageal and gastric varices (lethal enlarged veins) or liver cancer. A large percentage of hep C cases are asymptomatic, and 10-50% of these acute infections cure themselves.
Meindert Boysen, program director technology appraisals at NICE, said: €The significant improvement in sustained virological response rates seen with boceprevir plus peginterferon alfa and ribavirin compared with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin alone represents a major benefit for people with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C. In the past, patients have declined treatment because the perceived chance of a sustained virological response with peginterferon alfa plus ribavirin was too low for them to accept the associated side effects. We€¦recommend boceprevir as a cost-effective use of NHS [National Health Service] resources.€ Although the drug is very costly (about $48,400 for a 44-week period of pills), it has proven to be a cost-effective option since it has proven to be so successful in its treatment of genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C.
There are about 150 million people across the globe currently infected with HCV. About 85% of these cases are based in the liver, and 50-80% of these cases that receive treatment will be cured. About 9,000 deaths occur due to HCV in the United States each year. It is to be expected that more chronic cases will arise in the next number of years and the mortality rate due to hep C will rise, as these cases will be involving those patients who had contracted the disease before HCV testing became available. Hopefully, with the help of Victrelis, the death rate will go down rather than up.
See also: Hepatitis C Clinical Trials
Boceprevir, marketed as Victrelis by America's Merck & Co., can treat the most common subtype of chronic hepatitis C (genotype 1) for patients with liver disease. Most patients diagnosed with genotype 1 are treated with the drugs peginterferon alfa and ribavirin. About 40% of these patients are cured. Using boceprevir in addition to these aforementioned medications increases the treatment rate to 70%. Peginterferon alfa and ribavirin enhance the strength of the immune system and Victrelis narrows in on the virus and prevents the virus from further replication.
The infectious disease hepatitis C is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The disease, known vernacularly as €hep C€, primarily affects the liver and can cause severe scarring in chronic cases. The severe scarring may lead to cirrhosis and either liver failure, deathly esophageal and gastric varices (lethal enlarged veins) or liver cancer. A large percentage of hep C cases are asymptomatic, and 10-50% of these acute infections cure themselves.
Meindert Boysen, program director technology appraisals at NICE, said: €The significant improvement in sustained virological response rates seen with boceprevir plus peginterferon alfa and ribavirin compared with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin alone represents a major benefit for people with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C. In the past, patients have declined treatment because the perceived chance of a sustained virological response with peginterferon alfa plus ribavirin was too low for them to accept the associated side effects. We€¦recommend boceprevir as a cost-effective use of NHS [National Health Service] resources.€ Although the drug is very costly (about $48,400 for a 44-week period of pills), it has proven to be a cost-effective option since it has proven to be so successful in its treatment of genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C.
There are about 150 million people across the globe currently infected with HCV. About 85% of these cases are based in the liver, and 50-80% of these cases that receive treatment will be cured. About 9,000 deaths occur due to HCV in the United States each year. It is to be expected that more chronic cases will arise in the next number of years and the mortality rate due to hep C will rise, as these cases will be involving those patients who had contracted the disease before HCV testing became available. Hopefully, with the help of Victrelis, the death rate will go down rather than up.
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