Happy Mothers Day
Newsletter Updates
Hello folks, since we posted our index of May Newsletters a few new publications have been published, in addition you may be interested in reading a new article written by Lucinda K. Porter; Mothers and Grandmothers.
In The News
Health Watch: Wiping out hepatitis C
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Continue to article....
HepCBC Hepatitis C Education and Prevention Society
HepCBC’s MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
The hepc.bull, has been “Canada’s hepatitis C journal” since the late 1990′s and has been published nonstop since 2001. The monthly newsletter contains the latest research results, government policy changes, activities and campaigns you can get involved in, articles by patients and caregivers, and a list of support groups plus other useful links.
May Newsletter
In This Issue:
HepCBC Roadshow
Marathon News
Treatment / Trials
EASL 2014 Highlights
Fire in the Blood (Film)
Stay Connected
NYC Hep C Task Force
The New York City Hepatitis C Task Force is a city-wide network of service providers and advocates concerned with hepatitis C and related issues. The groups come together to learn, share information and resources, network, and identify hepatitis C related needs in the community. Committees form to work on projects in order to meet needs identified by the community.
NYC Viral Hepatitis Monthly E-Newsletter
May 2014 NYC Hepatitis Awareness Month Newsletter
In This Issue
Upcoming Events
Policy Watch & Action Alerts
The Emerging Hep C Epidemic in Youth
See collected information, presentations and resources on Hep C in Youth, here
Hepatitis C: The cost for cure can be high. See available medication Patient Assistance Programs (Private & Pharma).
Should you be tested for Hepatitis C?
Post-test counseling guide: Hep C antibody test_Reactive (+)
Post Test Counseling guide: Hep C antibody test_Non reactive ( – )
Subscribe to this Newsletter
Join Us
The Hepatitis C Trust is the national UK charity for hepatitis C. It was
founded and is now led and run by people with personal experience of
hepatitis C and almost all of our Board, staff and volunteers either
have hepatitis C or have had it and cleared it after treatment.
Spring 2014
The Hepatitis C Trust Association Newsletter
IN THIS ISSUE...
25 years of hepatitis C... how long before it’s eradicated?
The Hepatitis C Trust Helpline celebrates a decade of supporting people with hep C
Treatment for prisoners through primary care
Connect With Hepatitis C Trust
GI & Hepatology Newsletter
GI
& Hepatology News is the official newspaper of the AGA Institute
and provides the gastroenterologist with timely and relevant news and
commentary about clinical developments and about the impact of
health-care policy. The newspaper is led by an internationally renowned
board of editors.
View Current Issue (Vol. 8 No. 5 May 2014):
PDF | Interactive Issue
In This Issue
Combo pill cures HCV in 8–12 weeks
A single daily pill containing two novel antiviral agents produced sustained virologic response rates of more than 90% in as little as 8–12 weeks in three multicenter, open-label phase III studies involving 1,952 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection.
Simeprevir and sofosbuvir combo offers high SVR rates
Cure rates of 93%–100% were achieved in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 treated with both simeprevir and sofosbuvir despite the presence of advanced cirrhosis in a phase IIa trial.
VIDEO: Oral drugs tackle hepatitis C genotypes 2, 3
Sofosbuvir-ribavirin treats hepatitis C virus genotypes 2, 3
Stay connected
View Current Issue (Vol. 8 No. 5 May 2014):
PDF | Interactive Issue
In This Issue
Combo pill cures HCV in 8–12 weeks
A single daily pill containing two novel antiviral agents produced sustained virologic response rates of more than 90% in as little as 8–12 weeks in three multicenter, open-label phase III studies involving 1,952 patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection.
Simeprevir and sofosbuvir combo offers high SVR rates
Cure rates of 93%–100% were achieved in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 treated with both simeprevir and sofosbuvir despite the presence of advanced cirrhosis in a phase IIa trial.
VIDEO: Oral drugs tackle hepatitis C genotypes 2, 3
Sofosbuvir-ribavirin treats hepatitis C virus genotypes 2, 3
Stay connected
Hep C Connections - Website
Our mission is to educate the general public about hepatitis C and to provide resources and support for those affected by the virus. Hep C Connection offers a helpline to answer your questions regarding hepatitis C (HCV). You can expect respect, patience & understanding, in clear, jargon-free language from our staff & volunteers. Call 1-800-522-HEPC (4372) today!
May Newsletter
In This Issue
We exhibited at seven 9Health Fairs in April and will be at five additional fairs during May and June. Three of the upcoming fairs will offer hepatitis C testing. We'll be there to answer any questions that attendees have about hepatitis. You can register for a 9Health Fair here.
The 9Health Fair hours are from 7:00 am to 12:00 pm.
To find clinical trials in your city, visit www.clinicaltrials.gov or call us at 1-800-522-HEPC and we can walk you through the website.
If you are in the metro-Denver area,
South Denver Gastroenterology, PC is currently enrolling patients for:
A
phase 3 trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of a 12 week
regimen of simeprevir in combination with sofosbuvir in patients that
have or have never gone through treatment, with chronic HCV genotype 1
infection, and that have cirrhosis.
A
phase 3 trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of a 12 or 8 week
treatment regimen of simeprevir in combination with sofosbuvir in
patients that have or have never gone through treatment for chronic
hepatitis C infection.
A phase 3 trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of the combination
regimen
of MK-5172 and MK-8742 in patients with HCV genotype 1, 4, 5, or 6
infection who have failed prior treatment with pegylated interferon and
ribavirin.
They
are also recruiting patients with cirrhosis, any genotype and patients
with hepatic encephalopathy. Please call Sherry Rogers at 303-406-4139
or Kelley Braun at 303-406-4288 if you are interested in enrolling in
any of the above studies.
Connect On Facebook
Of Interest
May 10
CHICAGO — In this video, HCV Next Editorial Board member Paul Y. Kwo, MD, medical director of liver transplantation in the Gastroenterology/Hepatology division at Indiana University, discusses research and symposia presented at Digestive Disease Week related to hepatitis C, and outlines future goals for treatment as favorable results from trials of direct-acting antiviral agents continue to emerge
Continue Reading @ Healio
AbbVie's $84,000 question
By Andrew L. Wang
May 12, 2014
AbbVie Inc. has 84,000 reasons to believe that its new treatment for hepatitis C will be a blockbuster.
That's how many dollars pharma rival Gilead Sciences Inc. is charging for a 12-week regimen of Sovaldi, its new treatment for the potentially fatal liver disease. A cure rate of more than 90 percent is driving demand for the drug despite its lofty price tag, earning the Foster City, California-based company $2.3 billion in the first quarter.
Gilead's windfall is no doubt figuring into AbbVie's strategy for how it introduces its own treatment in the fourth quarter. AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez has said only that the North Chicago-based company's unnamed therapy intends to compete with Sovaldi on merit rather than price.
“When you look at the attributes of this product, the performance speaks for itself,” he told analysts in January. In trials of AbbVie's five-drug cocktail, cure rates have hovered in the mid-90s.
High prices also will help the company make up for the impending loss of revenue from Humira, the rheumatoid arthritis blockbuster that starts going off patent in 2016. The drug raked in 57 percent of AbbVie's $18.79 billion in sales in 2013.
Yet it remains unclear whether AbbVie will be able to keep prices high or be forced to offer discounts to private and public insurers that have paid for Sovaldi even as they grumble for a cheaper alternative.
Despite its effectiveness, AbbVie's therapy has some characteristics that could make it less attractive. The drug mixture requires multiple daily pills compared with one for Sovaldi, and it uses Norvir, an antiretroviral that can cause unwanted interactions with other drugs. Also, by the time it hits pharmacies, AbbVie may be facing off with Sovaldi's second iteration, a dual-drug combo that has performed well in eight-week trials.
“They have been making the case that they have produced very high efficacy rates,” says Seamus Levine-Wilkinson, a Burlington, Massachusetts-based pharma analyst at Decision Resources LLC. But now, “that's the price of entry into the hep C space.” Before Sovaldi, the best cure rates were in the 70s.
“Ten out of 10 doctors would pick Gilead in a cost-neutral environment,” says Mark Schoenebaum, the New York-based head of health care research at International Strategy & Investment Group LLC.
“(Payers are arguing), 'If we get a discount for a less convenient drug, we're fine using the less convenient drug.' They need someone to play ball.”
AbbVie likely will set prices in line with Sovaldi initially, says Mr. Levine-Wilkinson, and it may be able to sustain it for a year or two, depending on how the market takes to its product. But that could change when other manufacturers such as Merck & Co. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. introduce their own therapies. It only takes one player to set off a price war, he says.
An estimated 150 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C. The bloodborne virus is spread through unsterile intravenous drug use, among other modes, and years can pass between infection and any sign of symptoms.
Sovaldi is seen as a game changer for more than its effectiveness. It's an oral therapy and, at least for some patients, can be administered without interferon, a protein with flu-like side effects.
AbbVie hasn't publicized revenue estimates for its new therapy, but analysts have been projecting roughly $800 million in sales for 2015, growing to more than $2 billion annually in the near term—blockbuster status in the pharma industry.
PRICE TAG PAIN
Meanwhile, some insurers already have felt the pain of outsized price tags for hepatitis C treatments. UnitedHealth Group Inc. in Minneapolis recently noted that Sovaldi's introduction in December resulted in a higher-than-expected $100 million bill in the first quarter.
The CEO of Express Scripts Holding Co., the country's largest pharmacy benefits manager, told Bloomberg News in December the company will pit Gilead against AbbVie and other competitors to get lower prices.
State Medicaid programs are still getting a handle on how they will cover Sovaldi, says Matt Salo, executive director of the Washington-based National Association of Medicaid Directors.
Drugs for rare diseases, with affected populations in the hundreds or thousands, typically command the highest prices. The key difference with hepatitis C: An estimated 3.2 million Americans carry the virus, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“It's a massive number of people times a very expensive product,” Mr. Salo says. “No matter what lens you look at it through, it's just not affordable.”
In Illinois, 186 Medicaid members have started using Sovaldi, an agency spokeswoman says. The state is paying the full freight for the drug and through April had paid $10.3 million, though it has asked Gilead for rebates. In fiscal 2013, the agency spent just $6.7 million on all hepatitis C drugs, the spokeswoman says.
Mr. Gonzalez knows how it feels to catch flak over drug pricing. He was president and chief operating officer of medical products at Abbott Labs in 2003, when the separate pharma division quintupled the U.S. wholesale price of Norvir, which also is used to treat HIV/AIDS. Protesters picketed Abbott's annual shareholder meeting and doctors boycotted the company's products.
AbbVie would not want to rehash that unfortunate chapter, in part because the ill will could damage sales of Humira.
“To screw that up and ruin what you've been investing in for the last decade doesn't make sense,” says F. Randy Vogenberg, a pharmacist and Greenville, South Carolina-based principle of the Institute for Integrated Healthcare. “They have more to lose than Gilead.”
For complete coverage of Chicago-area health care news, visit ChicagoHealthCareDaily.com.
Can payers get to 'rational' hep C drug prices without a price war?
Payers worried about hepatitis C drug prices have been counting on impending price competition to save them money. The idea is that, once Merck, AbbVie and Bristol-Myers Squibb have treatments on the market, Gilead Sciences will have to back off its $84,000-per-treatment-course sticker price. The reality could be a little better--and a little worse--than that.
Related
Reducing the cost of new hepatitis C drugs
The situation has Medicaid plans and insurers nationwide groping for the right balance. Colorado’s Medicaid agency announced in February that it would not approve new Sovaldi requests until it does more review of the drug’s impact. California, Florida, Louisiana and Michigan announced they would consider approving the drug on a case-by-case basis. ....
The situation has Medicaid plans and insurers nationwide groping for the right balance. Colorado’s Medicaid agency announced in February that it would not approve new Sovaldi requests until it does more review of the drug’s impact. California, Florida, Louisiana and Michigan announced they would consider approving the drug on a case-by-case basis. ....
View all May Newsletters, here.
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