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ADAP Crisis Task Force Announces Groundbreaking Agreement with AbbVie for Hepatitis C Treatment Viekira Pak™
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Britten Pund, 202-434-8090, bpund@NASTAD.org
January 15, 2015, Washington, DC - The ADAP Crisis Task Force (Task Force) has reached a new pricing agreement between AbbVie and AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) for Viekira Pak (ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir tablets; dasabuvir tablets) for the treatment of hepatitis C (HCV). AbbVie is the first company to offer a discount on the ADAP price of an HCV medication in the era of new curative HCV treatments. The agreed-upon ADAP price for Viekira Pak, negotiated between the Task Force and AbbVie, reflects voluntary discounts and rebates that are significantly lower than the wholesale acquisition cost (WAC). While many ADAPs may not be able to add Viekira Pak to their formularies due to fiscal constraints, this agreement recognizes the importance of access to hepatitis C medications for people living with HIV and demonstrates good faith that access at a discounted price may lead to formulary inclusion. ADAPs make individual decisions about adding new medications to their formularies.
The Task Force has worked collaboratively with Abbvie since 2003 to provide ADAPs access to discounted pricing on its HIV drugs. Hepatitis is the leading cause of non-AIDS-related death in people co-infected with HIV and hepatitis. It is estimated that up to 30 percent of people living with HIV are also infected with HCV. Co-infection of HIV and HCV increases the progression of liver disease and can occur without symptoms. Viekira Pak was approved with a co-infection indication, making it explicitly accessible for people living with HIV to be able to take this medication. By nature of the structure of the Ryan White Program, ADAPs are only able to provide services for individuals who are living with HIV, not those who are mono-infected with HCV. Understanding the impact of HCV on those living with HIV, AbbVie voluntarily negotiated with ADAPs on the price of Viekira Pak. This medication, a combination of three antiviral agents, joins a new class of HCV medications boasting up to 99 percent cure rates after 12 weeks of treatment. Viekira Pak's Food and Drug Administration approval was based on the results from Phase 2 clinical trials which showed that Viekira Pak cured 97 percent of liver transplant recipients and 92 percent of patients co-infected with HIV and HCV.
"This landmark decision by AbbVie to negotiate with the Task Force on an ADAP price for Viekira Pak is an important opportunity to expand access to treatment for people living with HIV and hepatitis C," stated Annette Rockwell, coordinator of the Massachusetts HIV/AIDS Drug Assistance Program (HDAP) and a member of the Task Force. "We thank AbbVie for agreeing to price this new medication for ADAPs at a point that will allow meaningful access for persons living with HIV and hepatitis C co-infection. Our long working relationship with AbbVie made this new agreement possible, and means that individuals with HIV and HCV have an opportunity to access curative treatment for HCV and enhance their ability to effectively manage HIV infection," added Dawn Fukuda, Director of the Office of HIV/AIDS, Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
About the ADAP Crisis Task Force
Formed in 2002, The ADAP Crisis Task Force (Task Force) negotiates reduced drug prices for all AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs). ADAPs provide life-saving HIV treatments to low income, uninsured, and underinsured individuals living with HIV/AIDS in all 50 states and the territories. Task Force membership is currently comprised of representatives from California, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington state HIV/AIDS divisions. The current agreements with manufacturers reduced ADAPs' antiretroviral costs by $263 million in 2013. The cumulative savings of the Task Force agreements, from 2003 to 2013, totals more than $2 billion. Task Force negotiated prices for antiretrovirals average a discount of more than 50% from Wholesaler Acquisition Cost (WAC). Seven of the antiretroviral manufacturers have frozen prices until the end of 2015.
About NASTAD
Founded in 1992, NASTAD is a nonprofit national association of state and territorial health department directors who have programmatic responsibility for administering HIV/AIDS and hepatitis health care, prevention, education, and supportive services programs funded by state and federal governments. For more information, visit www.NASTAD.org.
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