Monday, June 15, 2015

Pharmacists Need to Weigh Cost–Benefit of Chronic Hepatitis C Drugs

Pharmacists Need to Weigh Cost–Benefit of Chronic Hepatitis C Drugs

High costs associated with new chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatments should prompt pharmacists to reconsider their formula for determining the drugs’ worth. 

 “The [health care] landscape has a lot of activity in terms of antivirals—primarily for hepatitis C,” Tom Frank, PharmD, BCPS, director of research and education at University of Arkansas Medical Sciences Area Health Education Center told Pharmacy Times in an exclusive interview at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) 2015 Summer Meetings and Exposition in Denver. 

 A large portion of Dr. Frank’s “New Drugs in Primary Care” session at ASHP focused on 2 new HCV drugs, sofosbuvir (Sovaldi) and ledipasavir/sofosbuvir (Harvoni)—examples of this year’s “incredibly innovative drugs” that “almost across the board have price tags associated with them that are challenging,” he explained. 

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