Sofosbuvir has received the green light from NICE but will not be available to patients until August 2015, while simeprevir will only be accessible through a patient access scheme.
Expensive treatments for hepatitis C will now be available to more
patients in the UK, according to final draft guidance from the National
Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published on 16 January
2015.
NICE has extended its original draft recommendations for
simeprevir and sofosbuvir to cover more people with hepatitis C.
However, patients will have to wait until August 2015 for sofosbuvir,
and simeprevir will be available only under a groundbreaking ‘pay if you
clear’ deal agreed with the manufacturer.
NICE has issued final draft guidance[1]
recommending simeprevir (Olysio, Janssen), in combination with
peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, as an option for treating two forms of
hepatitis – genotype 1 and genotype 4 (4% of diagnoses). The previous
draft guidance did not recommend simeprevir for treating genotype 4.
Read more... Labels: Approvals, NICE, Olysio, Sovaldi