HCV / Hepatitis

Doctors Without Borders and humanitarian groups across Europe are coordinating their opposition to Gilead Sciences Inc’s patent for hepatitis C treatment sofosbuvir, the basis for the biopharmaceutical giant’s Sovaldi, Harvoni, and Epclusa drugs.

The US Food and Drug Administration just approved indications for two hepatitis C drugs to be used in pediatric patients.

In case you missed them, our top 5 articles for the week of March 12, 2017 are highlighted here.

Researchers posit that increased direct-acting antiviral (DAA) coverage can work to completely eradicate hepatitis c virus (HCV) in some populations of HIV-positive coinfected patients.

Hepatitis C virus is the world’s most prevalent blood-borne viral infection for which a vaccine does not exist. To eliminate HCV infection on a global scale, experts argue that vaccine development needs to become a public health priority.

When the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended that all baby boomers undergo a one-time hepatitis C screening in 2013, testing prevalence increased. However, the rate is still lower than officials would like to see.

According to Tour n’ Cure, an Egyptian initiative that aims to rid the world of hepatitis C, Egypt aims to give program participants an opportunity to receive full treatment at an extremely low cost, while touring “the land that gave birth to the first great civilization.”

Penn State researchers have been granted $2.35 million to go towards finding a way of better predicting infectious disease outbreaks.

Should practitioners administer these drugs to patients with advanced liver disease, despite the risks?

Did you read this week’s top infectious disease news coverage from Contagion®?

Kenilworth, New Jersey-based Merck, will take a loss of $0.22 a share from last year’s fourth quarter. This will account for a total loss of $2.9 billion, or $1.9 billion after taxes. The pharmaceutical giant had previously reported a profit of $0.42 a share for that period.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the hepatitis C virus (HCV) can wreak havoc on a patient’s psychological well-being, even in the absence of a continued viral presence.

Elimination of viral hepatitis depends on individuals actively participating in their own healthcare and management. They can only do this if they understand why and how to protect their miraculous, life-sustaining liver from harm. Education is the key to prevention.

Researchers recently examined data from 21k+ patients in the Veterans Affairs healthcare system to determine if a correlation exists between race or ethnicity and the efficacy of direct-acting antiviral (DAAs) for the treatment of hepatitis C (HCV).

Five patent challenges on medications to treat hepatitis C virus were recently filed in Argentina and India.

In a study presented at CROI 2017 in Seattle, Washington, researchers from MedStar Health Research Institute presented new data on HCV infection in non-baby boomer populations.

Research presented at the recent Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections shows that more individuals are aware of their HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) status, but more work is still needed.

Researchers presented their findings on pre-seroconversion window in patients with acute HCV infection at the Conference on Retrovirus and Opportunistic Infections in Seattle, Washington.

Researchers found that HCV infection may be linked to more cancers besides hepatocellular carcinoma, as well as certain types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

In a recent CHeCS study, investigators sought to identify the prevalence of cirrhosis, decompensated cirrhosis, and death, among 11,169 adults with HCV in the United States between 2006 and 2014.

A retrospective study found hepatitis C reinfection rates high are in HIV-positive men who have sex with men from four western European countries.

A recent study from US researchers suggests that liver disease severity and treatment costs for people with hepatitis C (HCV) vary depending on a patient’s genotype.

Regulus Therapeutic’s hepatitis C drug, RG-101, has been on clinical hold since mid-2016; FDA calls for additional data before hold is lifted.

Megan Luther, PharmD, Advanced Health Services research fellow, Providence Veterans Affairs Medical Center, University of Rhode Island, College of Pharmacy, discusses potential strategies to reduce incidence of acute kidney injuries due to vancomycin and pip/tazo combination therapy.

The retrospective study included a cohort of patients from six countries across Europe who were diagnosed with HCV and received daclatasvir during the Named Patient Program.

A new study finds that cancer incidence in individuals with cirrhosis is lower than originally believed—at most, about 4%.

According to the Belgian researchers, Sofosbuvir in combination with simeprevir with or without ribarivirn was found to be well-tolerated and efficacious.

In a review article published in Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America, researchers discuss the main rheumatologic diseases associated with chronic HCV infection, and how DAAs have affected these extrahepatic manifestations.

Monique Foster, MD, MPH, EIS officer, Division of Viral Hepatitis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), discusses the CDC’s HCV universal birth cohort testing program.

A research group from Hokkaido University in Japan found that standard treatment for those with genotype 1 HCV should likely be switched from interferon (INF)-based therapies to INF-free direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapies.