Zepatier: Huge leaps forward, for a price.
Zepatier is a new Hepatitis C treatment drug, a combination of Elbasvir and Grazoprevir, and was approved by the FDA on January 28th, 2016. It can be used with or without Ribavirin, treats both HCV genotypes 1 & 4 in adults, while boasting a nearly 100% success rate in curing the virus (genotype 1 being 94-97%, genotype 4 being 97-100%). It comes in pill form and is taken orally, once a day, for 12-16 weeks. Along with the simple and short term nature of the treatment, are a few common mild side effects, such as tiredness, headaches, and nausea. Although, when taken with Ribavirin, it may induce anemia. However it should be known that anyone who has previously had Hepatitis B, is at risk of it being reactivated taking Zepatier, and may result in liver failure. Therefore one's doctor will likely test their blood in order to determine if they currently have or have had Hepatitis B.
In July of 2016, Penn Medicine in Philadelphia launched the beginnings of a study that will inevitably save hundreds of lives every year. Each year about 17,000 people receive kidney transplants, yet the waiting list of donor recipients for kidneys hovers around 100,000 people, making it the most needed organ by those awaiting organ transplants. These are people whose kidneys will surely fail if not already failing, many of whom are constantly enduring dialysis every week, and on average will wait five years to receive a kidney. Unfortunately, 4% of these people desperately waiting for transplants die every year. As their health continues to decline, so do their finances, as most of those waiting for kidney transplants are unable to work, spending many hours in dialysis and many more recovering from each session.
Every year, around 500 healthy and functional kidneys are discarded, due to the fact that they were donated by those infected with the Hepatitis C Virus. Thus began the clinical trial known as "Thinker", run by Dr. David S. Goldberg and Dr. Peter Reece at Penn Medicine. The goal of this trial was to test the safety and potential of taking these unused kidneys from HCV positive donors, and giving them to those in need of transplants who did not have the virus, thereby opening a new door for some of those awaiting transplants. The first study participant, Irma Hendricks, received her kidney in July 2016. She was given the full treatment of Zepatier after her transplant. Low and behold, the virus was no longer to be found. In September 2016 they began their clinical trials studies, and out of the ten patients (all with genotype 1) who were given transplants, all ten walked away with a new kidney and no existing HCV after their treatment with Zepatier. Now, they are designing another clinical trial for those in need of heart transplants, and hope to move on to further organs such as lungs in the future. These studies were supported by a research grant from the Merck Investigator Initiated Studies Program, Merck being the pharmaceutical company which created Zepatier.
Zepatier and other Hepatitis C treatments like it, which sustain high success rates in curing the virus, are not only making huge leaps forward in eliminating the threat of HCV, but will now also open up the availability of organs for those in need of transplants. They will, in some sense, not only be saving the lives of people suffering from Hepatitis C, but additional people who would otherwise die waiting for an organ donor which will not reach them in time. Luckily for those in the clinical trials, their treatments were paid for by Merck, due to the risks involved in potentially procuring a disease from the procedure which they did not previously have. They are hoping that future patients receiving infected organs, will still have the treatment available to them at no cost, but that is yet to be seen.
It would seem as though the battle is nearly won against Hepatitis C, but there is still a catch here. Although it is becoming increasingly treatable and curable, it comes with a price. Zepatier, along with it's competitors such as Harvoni, Sovaldi, and other HCV treatment drugs, are among the most expensive prescriptions on the market today. On a top ten list put together by GoodRX, which was published in January of 2017, drugs for Hepatitis C dominated said list. Zepatier came in fourth at about $52,000 without any form of health insurance. That's over $600 per pill taken every day, over the course of the 12 week treatment plan. Yet in some regards, believe it or not, this may be a good thing. Zepatier's proven effectiveness and lower price than those above it on the list, are likely to cause drug prices for current and future successes in treatments to drop, as they compete with each other in the free market. Zepatier does also provide some assistance in the form of a coupon which can be taken to the pharmacy to help slightly lessen the cost of co-pays. All in all, this is still not something many can manage to pay without insurance, especially considering the financial difficulties most encounter once the virus becomes active. In the meantime we can only hope that the prices continue to drop amidst the heat of competing pharmaceutical companies, that those in need of medical assistance have access to and can afford health insurance, and most of all that we soon put the Hepatitis C Virus behind us through our advancements in medical technology.
In July of 2016, Penn Medicine in Philadelphia launched the beginnings of a study that will inevitably save hundreds of lives every year. Each year about 17,000 people receive kidney transplants, yet the waiting list of donor recipients for kidneys hovers around 100,000 people, making it the most needed organ by those awaiting organ transplants. These are people whose kidneys will surely fail if not already failing, many of whom are constantly enduring dialysis every week, and on average will wait five years to receive a kidney. Unfortunately, 4% of these people desperately waiting for transplants die every year. As their health continues to decline, so do their finances, as most of those waiting for kidney transplants are unable to work, spending many hours in dialysis and many more recovering from each session.
Every year, around 500 healthy and functional kidneys are discarded, due to the fact that they were donated by those infected with the Hepatitis C Virus. Thus began the clinical trial known as "Thinker", run by Dr. David S. Goldberg and Dr. Peter Reece at Penn Medicine. The goal of this trial was to test the safety and potential of taking these unused kidneys from HCV positive donors, and giving them to those in need of transplants who did not have the virus, thereby opening a new door for some of those awaiting transplants. The first study participant, Irma Hendricks, received her kidney in July 2016. She was given the full treatment of Zepatier after her transplant. Low and behold, the virus was no longer to be found. In September 2016 they began their clinical trials studies, and out of the ten patients (all with genotype 1) who were given transplants, all ten walked away with a new kidney and no existing HCV after their treatment with Zepatier. Now, they are designing another clinical trial for those in need of heart transplants, and hope to move on to further organs such as lungs in the future. These studies were supported by a research grant from the Merck Investigator Initiated Studies Program, Merck being the pharmaceutical company which created Zepatier.
Zepatier and other Hepatitis C treatments like it, which sustain high success rates in curing the virus, are not only making huge leaps forward in eliminating the threat of HCV, but will now also open up the availability of organs for those in need of transplants. They will, in some sense, not only be saving the lives of people suffering from Hepatitis C, but additional people who would otherwise die waiting for an organ donor which will not reach them in time. Luckily for those in the clinical trials, their treatments were paid for by Merck, due to the risks involved in potentially procuring a disease from the procedure which they did not previously have. They are hoping that future patients receiving infected organs, will still have the treatment available to them at no cost, but that is yet to be seen.
It would seem as though the battle is nearly won against Hepatitis C, but there is still a catch here. Although it is becoming increasingly treatable and curable, it comes with a price. Zepatier, along with it's competitors such as Harvoni, Sovaldi, and other HCV treatment drugs, are among the most expensive prescriptions on the market today. On a top ten list put together by GoodRX, which was published in January of 2017, drugs for Hepatitis C dominated said list. Zepatier came in fourth at about $52,000 without any form of health insurance. That's over $600 per pill taken every day, over the course of the 12 week treatment plan. Yet in some regards, believe it or not, this may be a good thing. Zepatier's proven effectiveness and lower price than those above it on the list, are likely to cause drug prices for current and future successes in treatments to drop, as they compete with each other in the free market. Zepatier does also provide some assistance in the form of a coupon which can be taken to the pharmacy to help slightly lessen the cost of co-pays. All in all, this is still not something many can manage to pay without insurance, especially considering the financial difficulties most encounter once the virus becomes active. In the meantime we can only hope that the prices continue to drop amidst the heat of competing pharmaceutical companies, that those in need of medical assistance have access to and can afford health insurance, and most of all that we soon put the Hepatitis C Virus behind us through our advancements in medical technology.
Written by,
Aaron Remak
Aaron Remak
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