Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Hepatitis C Infection Treatment Will Be Discontinued

Hepatitis C Infection Treatment Will Be Discontinued

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is informing that Victrelis (boceprevir; Merck) 200mg capsules will be discontinued.

Victrelis is a HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitor indicated for the treatment of chronic hepatitis Cgenotype 1 infection, in combination with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin in adult patients with compensated liver disease, including cirrhosis, who are previously untreated or who have failed previous interferon and ribavirin therapy including prior null responders, partial responders, and relapsers.

Victrelis works by covalently, yet reversibly, binding to the NS3 protease active site serine (S139) through an (alpha)-ketoamide functional group to inhibit viral replication in HCV-infected host cells.

Victrelis is estimated to be available until December 2015. Discontinuation of Victrelis is not related to any product safety or efficacy matters.

For more information call (877) 888-4231 or visit Victrelis.com.

Hepatitis C drug Victrelis (boceprevir) gets pulled from manufacturer
The pharmaceutical company, Merck, has announced that they will stop the manufacture and distribution of their hepatitis C (HCV) protease inhibitor Victrelis by December 2015. As the landscape of HCV treatment has rapidly evolved, providers are no longer prescribing the medication and patients are no longer taking it in favor of newer regimens that are easier to take, and have shorter treatment durations and higher cure rates. In a similar move, Vertex discontinued their HCV drug Incivek (telaprevir) in October 2014.

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