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VICTRELIS™ Now Available for Eligible Patients in British Columbia
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New hep C drug covered in B.C
Vancouver Sun March 27, 2012 2:07 AM
Hundreds of hepatitis patients in British Columbia will now have Pharmacare coverage for a new drug that was approved by Health Canada nine months ago.
The drug is called boceprevir (Victrelis) and Pharmacare coverage will be provided through the special authority program for patients with chronic, lab-confirmed hepatitis C infection.
New patients who have not received treatment before for hepatitis C, as well as previously treated patients who have responded only partly to or relapsed after another treatment for hepatitis C, will be eligible.
The provincial government says it spends more than $100 million a year on prevention, education and treatment of hepatitis C, a viral disease that affects the liver. Boceprevir is used in combination with two other drugs (peginterferon and ribavirin). There are about 64,000 British Columbians diagnosed with hepatitis C.
VICTRELIS™ Now Available for Eligible Patients in British Columbia
MONTREAL, March 26, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Province to reimburse new chronic hepatitis C treatment
BC PharmaCare recently announced the reimbursement of VICTRELIS™ (boceprevir) for eligible British Columbians living with chronic hepatitis C.
Boceprevir is a first-in-class oral hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease inhibitor for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C genotype 1 infection. It is to be used in combination with peginterferon alpha and ribavirin (peg/riba) in adult patients (18 years and older) with compensated liver disease, including cirrhosis, who are previously untreated or who have failed previous therapy.1 When added to peg/riba, boceprevir can significantly increase a patient's chance of clearing the virus from the body.2,3 The treatment was authorized for use in Canada in July 2011.
Eligibility criteria for boceprevir can be accessed through the following link: http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/pharmacare/sa/criteria/restricted/boceprevir.html
"This is most welcome news as British Columbia has one of the heaviest burdens of chronic hepatitis C in Canada," says Dr. Eric Yoshida, hepatologist and Professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. "Boceprevir represents a major advance in the treatment of this infection. We now have the ability to cure this disease for a majority of patients, and therefore reduce the risk of premature mortality from end-stage cirrhosis and liver cancer. British Columbia is the third province to offer patients with chronic hepatitis C infection public access to this potentially life-saving treatment."
Hepatitis C in Canada and British Columbia
An estimated 250,000 individuals in Canada are infected with HCV and there are 3,200 to 5,000 newly infected individuals each year.4 About 2,500 new cases of HCV are identified in British Columbia each year.5 HCV damages the liver and may lead to serious complications, including death, when left untreated.6 It is the leading cause of liver transplants in Canada.7
About Merck
Today's Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. Through our medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and consumer and animal products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships.
TM Trademark of Schering Corporation, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. Used under license.
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