Tuesday, September 30, 2014

HCV Fall Issue: Gilead's Islands - The Road to Treatment Access


The Treatment Action Group’s Hepatitis/HIV Project collaborates with activists, community members, scientists, governments, and drug companies to make safer, more effective and less toxic treatment for viral hepatitis available. The Project forges coalitions with activists worldwide to demand universal access to hepatitis care and treatment. 

The following HCV related articles were printed online in the fall issue of "TAGline"

NEWS ON THE FIGHT TO END HIV/AIDS, VIRAL HEPATITIS, AND TUBERCULOSIS

DOWNLOAD:
This issue of TAGline as a PDF

Gilead's Islands - The Road to Treatment Access

The Road to Treatment Access
Generic drug registration, licensing, and a trip to Gilead’s islands
By Karyn Kaplan and Tracy Swan
So far, Gilead has registered and licensed sofosbuvir in only one middle-income country, Egypt, where Gilead is selling it to the government for US$300 per month. Prices will be much higher—and unaffordable—for uninsured Egyptians, who must pay for their own medication; according to the World Bank, Egypt’s per capita annual GDP is US$3,314, but the expected private-market price will be US$9,000 for a 12-week course....
Gilead’s “Egypt price” sounds like a bargain—but it isn’t. Sofosbuvir can be mass-produced, at a profit, for far less than Gilead is charging anywhere. According to Andrew Hill, PhD, of the University of Liverpool and colleagues, three months of sofosbuvir could be mass-produced at a profit, and sold for as little as US$105. In September 2014, Gilead announced licensing agreements for generic sofosbuvir in 91 LMICs. The countries that are not included in these licenses must buy higher-priced sofosbuvir from Gilead. Limiting the countries where generic sofosbuvir can be sold will make it difficult for producers to reduce the price, because they cannot achieve economies of scale....

A Drug by Any Other Name
The basics of generic medications, bioequivalence, and the push for good manufacturing practices
By Tim Horn
Securing access to generic drugs to treat HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV), and tuberculosis (TB) is now one of the most prominent strategies of global health care and treatment activism. The ongoing development, regulatory approval, and evaluation of generic drugs are dependent on activism. This requires a basic understanding of the science and policies of generics, particularly the practices that must be followed to help ensure equivalence and quality control.

Read the entire fall issue, here

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For information about ongoing HCV treatment access advocacy and to get involved in campaigns, please visit www.hepcoalition.org.

Of Interest @ NATAP

Costs of telaprevir-based triple therapy for hepatitis C: $189,000 per sustained virological response - (09/29/14)

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