Hepatitis C treatment coming fast and expensive

Treatment of hepatitis C will increase in availability and effectiveness, experts say. But they’re uncertain whether it will be any less expensive.

In May, Food and Drug Administration approved two medications to help hepatitis C patients to manage the disease—boceprevir, which is marketed as Victrelis by Merck; and telaprevir, which is marketed as Incivek by Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The two medications come in pill form and are meant to be taken with interferon and ribavirin, which many hepatitis C patients use. Boceprevir and telaprevir are the first two hepatitis C treatments to be approved in a decade, but more are on the way.

Martha Saly, who is director of National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable, says pharmaceutical companies are working on treatments that one day should replace the cocktail of medications that hepatitis C patients now must endure.

But immediate competition between Merck and Vertex didn’t signal dropping prices. At press time, boceprevir was $1,100 per week for treatment (which lasts up to 44 weeks). Telaprevir carries a $49,000 price for a 12-week treatment.

Add that to the costs of interferon and ribavirin, as well as expenses for treating side effects, and it’s possible that it could cost the consumer up to $75,000 to complete treatment, says Lorren Sandt, who is director of Hepatitis C Caring Ambassador Program. As of press time, insurance coverage hadn’t been determined for boceprevir or telaprevir, but Sandt says she expects both to be covered.

Sandt says there are “many, many new drugs in the pipeline” for hepatitis C, but she isn’t sure if costs will come down, because pharmaceutical companies want to recoup their investments in research and development.

– P. Snyder