More cost-effective cure for hepatitis C may be close ;
The cost of treating Hepatitis C virus (HCV) could be reduced by up to 50 percent if the mathematical models used to predict when patients can safely stop taking antiviral drugs direct action (DAA), according to a new study by researchers at Loyola University Health System and Loyola University of Chicago.
It is estimated that 170 million people are infected bloodborne worldwide, which is a major cause of Chronic liver disease . The recent approval of days has led to a revolution in treatment HCV, but the high cost of Daas limits access to treatment in the United States and abroad.
“Recent clinical trials of days HCV suggest that cure of the infection often carried out before the end of treatment,” said Harel Dahari, PhD, assistant professor at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.
“Treatment is currently standardized to be given for a certain period of time, not adapt to each patient,” said Scott Cotler, MD, FCO, hepatology division director of Loyola Stritch and teacher. “In many cases, this can result in prolonged use of expensive drugs with essentially no additional positive effect.”
The use of more frequent blood tests to determine levels of HCV, Loyola researchers were able to identify when a cure was achieved and predict when therapy could be discontinued. This model could allow individualized treatment to achieve optimal results while reducing the duration and cost of drugs.
“This is the first time that this approach has been tested in patients with hepatitis C in DAA treatment,” said Dr. Dahari. “This initial study is very encouraging.”
The main authors, Drs. Dahari, Laetitia Canini, PhD, Susan L. Uprichard, PhD, and colleagues examined the test results of 58 chronic HCV patients treated with DAA sofosbuvir widely used drug in combination with Daclatasvir, Simeprevir or ledipasvir in three centers French reference. HCV was measured before treatment (called baseline), at two days every two weeks, at the end of treatment and after 12 weeks after the end of treatment. Mathematical modeling was used to predict the duration of treatment required to achieve a cure.
“The use of early viral analysis kinetics has the potential to individualize the duration of the DAA therapy cost savings projected 16 to 20 percent for every 100 people treated and up to 50 percent in about 40 percent of patients, “Dr. Dahari and colleagues. “Shorter regimens with low pill burden, and few adverse effects, could improve patient adherence in difficult to treat populations.”
The study, published in Journal of Hepatology , is entitled “HCV kinetics and modeling analyzes indicate similar for cure between sofosbuvir combination regimens with declatasvir, Simeprevir or ledipasvir time.”
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