New Drugs, New Hope; I start treatment with Harvoni

I just started treatment with the new Gilead drug Harvoni. It is the first of the new set of "wonder drugs" for Hep C that do not require either interferon or Ribavirin to be taken along with the primary treatment drug. The drug itself is a combination of Sofosbuvir, a polymerase inhibitor (much like the one I took in the drug trial described in the early posts of this blog) and Ledipasvir, which is an NS5A inhibitor. NS5A is a protein is an essential component for the replication of the Hep C virus. The two compounds act together to inhibit the Hep C virus from replicating itself and thus keep the infection from spreading and allow the immune system to gradually kill off the virus present in the body (my interpretation and if wrong the blame is on me).

The cure rates for genotype 1 Hep C (most common and vicious form) are in the 94%-99% range for treatment naive patients (those who have never undergone any sort of treatment) and in the 90% range for those of us who underwent treatment in the past and failed (thus leaving behind tougher versions of the virus). The side effects are also MUCH less difficult than those of the old standard of care of interferon and Ribavirin. The most common are headache, fatigue, diarrhea, nausea and insomnia. While these sound bad, and they are no fun, most reports have them present at levels significantly lower than the same side effects on the old standard treatment.

All of this sounds pretty good. High cure rates and moderate side effects are a strong combination. This is no doubt why you are seeing numbers of soft-sell, perhaps it's time to do something about your Hepatitis C, sorts of ads on television and in print media. Now that there is a treatment without injections, taking only one pill per day, with moderate side effects and with a treatment length of only 12 weeks (and in some instances 8 weeks) it is time for the drug companies to pile on the advertising. That and the fact that Gilead is charging $84,000 ($1000 per pill) for a 12 week course of treatment. (AbbVie has a 4 pill treatment on the market as well: Viekira Pak). The fact that the price is $1000 per pill for the Harvoni may account for the fact that the pill is in the shape of a diamond.

It's a bit too early to have much to say about the side effects, but taking a pill that cost $1,000 is definitely a new experience for me. I'll have more news about how it feels in the next few days.