World Hepatitis Day: Hepatitis C Research Advancements & New Treatment Options

World Hepatitis Day is one of the only global disease awareness days that is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), and is coordinated by both WHO and the World Hepatitis Alliance. With World Hepatitis Day today, we want to share with you some of the recent advances in hepatitis research and treatment options.

Hepatitis C, which causes inflammation of the liver, is one of the few chronic diseases that doctors have cured.  This means that no traces of the virus remain in the bloodstream. And with this, researchers continue to make discoveries that improve the safety and effectiveness of hepatitis C treatment options for patients. 

Significant hepatitis C research efforts have been focused around developing new and more effective treatments to eliminate and/or control the hepatitis C (HCV) virus.  With more than 5 million Americans infected with hepatitis C, it is critical that new treatments be introduced to help control the virus. One of the latest advances is the discovery of combining multiple medications, which has successfully treated more than 80% of people with this virus whom have taken these combination medications.

Some of these hepatitis drugs include:

• SOVALDI is a prescription medicine used with other antiviral medicines to treat chronic hepatitis C (Hep C) infection in adults.
• HARVONI is used to treat chronic hepatitis C (Hep C) genotype 1 infection in adults. It contains the prescription medicines ledipasvir and sofosbuvir (SOVALDI).
  
• PEGASYS + ribavirin + sofosbuvir for genotype 1 and 4 interferon-eligible adult patients with chronic hepatitis C.
• VIEKIRA PAK™ (ombitasvir, paritaprevir and ritonavir tablets co-packaged with dasabuvir tablets) is indicated to treat patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection, including those with a type of advanced liver disease called cirrhosis.

We are also excited to share that last week, the FDA approved two new combination treatments for the treatment of hepatitis C. This continues to show the commitment to find a cure, and the advancements being made in the treatment of HCV. These new drugs are:

• Technivie, which is a fixed-dose combination of ombitasvir, a hepatitis C virus NS5A inhibitor, paritaprevir, a hepatitis C virus NS3/4A protease inhibitor, and ritonavir, a CYP3A inhibitor and is indicated in combination with ribavirin for the treatment of patients with genotype 4 chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection without cirrhosis. 
• Daklinza, which has been approved in combination with the antiviral medication sofosbuvir, a once-daily (60 mg), 12-week, all-oral regimen for treating chronic (lasting a long time) hepatitis C (Hep C) genotype (GT) 3 in adults. 

The advancements in hepatitis C treatments are continuing to see increased success rates, shorten the duration of treatment, and provide a variety of treatment options for hepatitis C patients. Learn more about hepatitis C medications and hepatitis treatment resources.

Spread the Word: To help spread the word about hepatitis C on World Hepatitis Day, we invite you to share this infographic about the HCV epidemic in the United States. If you're sharing on Twitter or Facebook, use the hashtag, #PreventHepatitis to join the conversation.

If you're researching specialty pharmacies to partner with, you can also download our complimentary guide to selecting the right specialty pharmacy for your HCV patients.

Infographic credit: http://www.easl.eu/