TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - An experimental drug for one of the
hardest-to-treat types of hepatitis C has been approved by the Food and
Drug Administration, adding to the surge of new options - all much more
effective but extremely costly - for patients with the liver-destroying
virus.
Daklinza, developed by New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb
Co., is the first drug approved to treat genotype 3, the
second-most-common form. About 10 percent of Americans with hepatitis C
have genotype 3.
Because genotype 3 is so hard to cure and damages
the liver more quickly than other types, Daklinza is to be taken with
Sovaldi, one of two blockbuster hepatitis C drugs sold by market leader
Gilead Sciences Inc., along with Harvoni.
Meanwhile, the FDA on
Friday also approved Technivie, a combination drug made by AbbVie Inc.
for one of the least common forms of hepatitis C, genotype 4. Technivie
also must be taken with a second drug, a much-older, generic pill called
ribavirin.
Read more.. Labels: daklinza + sofosbuvir, GT3, GT4, Technivie