August 16th, 2015
Original Article: The Guardian
Original Article: The Guardian
Health experts concerned about decision not to extend Daklinza treatment to patients with genotype 3 strain of virus
Summary Source @ http://www.firstwordpharma.com/node/1307411?tsid=1#axzz3izyVxC7p
Hepatitis C patients in England denied lifesaving liver drug
Summary
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended restricting use of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Daklinza in England for patients with a particular strain of hepatitis C, even though the therapy is available to patients in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, The Guardian reported.
Last year the European regulator approved Daklinza for use, in conjunction with other drugs, as a treatment for four main strains of hepatitis C genotypes, but NICE has not recommended it for the treatment of patients with the genotype 3 of the disease, which accounts for around 45 percent of all cases in England.
NICE says that prescribing the drug for genotype 3 patients is not cost-effective as a full course of Daklinza can cost up to 48,700 pounds.
Anna Maria Geretti, professor of virology and infectious diseases at the University of Liverpool, said studies had shown that, when used in combination with other drugs, almost 100 percnet of patients taking Daklinza were cured.
Geretti suggested that up to 1000 people in England could benefit from the drug, although Nice is understood to put the figure at nearly 3000.
Bristol-Myers Squibb noted that “Nearly 100,000 patients in the UK are thought to have hepatitis C genotype 3. This group could suffer severe treatment inequality from this decision. BMS will be working closely with Nice to see if a solution can be found, and hope that this decision can be urgently reassessed.”
Source
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended restricting use of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Daklinza in England for patients with a particular strain of hepatitis C, even though the therapy is available to patients in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, The Guardian reported.
Last year the European regulator approved Daklinza for use, in conjunction with other drugs, as a treatment for four main strains of hepatitis C genotypes, but NICE has not recommended it for the treatment of patients with the genotype 3 of the disease, which accounts for around 45 percent of all cases in England.
NICE says that prescribing the drug for genotype 3 patients is not cost-effective as a full course of Daklinza can cost up to 48,700 pounds.
Anna Maria Geretti, professor of virology and infectious diseases at the University of Liverpool, said studies had shown that, when used in combination with other drugs, almost 100 percnet of patients taking Daklinza were cured.
Geretti suggested that up to 1000 people in England could benefit from the drug, although Nice is understood to put the figure at nearly 3000.
Bristol-Myers Squibb noted that “Nearly 100,000 patients in the UK are thought to have hepatitis C genotype 3. This group could suffer severe treatment inequality from this decision. BMS will be working closely with Nice to see if a solution can be found, and hope that this decision can be urgently reassessed.”
Source
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