British Columbia is providing public drug plan coverage of two new, often curative, hepatitis C drugs effective as of now announced Minister of Health Terry Lake.
People with hepatitis C will be able to apply for coverage under B.C.'s PharmaCare program of Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) and Harvoni (ledipasvir and sofosbuvir). These new medications cure about 90 per cent or more of people treated; are easier to take; involve a much shorter course of treatment; and have fewer side effects than older drugs.
"These two new drugs can utterly change the lives of people with hepatitis C for the better," said B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake. "These drugs represent a significant advance in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, and more British Columbians affected by this virus now have significantly better odds of becoming free of the disease."
British Columbia and Ontario jointly led negotiations with the drugs' manufacturer through the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance (pCPA). The alliance's process allows participating provinces and territories to leverage their collective buying power and negotiate better prices for new drugs.
Sovaldi treats hepatitis C genotypes 1, 2, and 3, and was approved for sale by Health Canada in late 2013. Harvoni treats genotype 1, and was approved for sale in late 2014. Many older hepatitis C treatments often have difficult side effects; one such treatment, peginterferon, is injected under the skin as well. Older drugs also have various cure rates for those able to tolerate the side effects. Both Harvoni and Sovaldi are swallowed as a pill, and have far fewer side effects.
PharmaCare will cover Sovaldi or Harvoni for people who meet certain criteria. For example, people who have never before been treated for hepatitis C or who have failed treatment with older drugs may be eligible for coverage.
The B.C. Ministry of Health expects to cover treatment for about 1,500 people in the first year. PharmaCare will monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the drugs and the outcomes for patients as part of its coverage program.
In order to fund these drugs and other new therapies, the ministry will continue its overall efforts to lower drug costs for PharmaCare. Some recent examples include: the recent single-sourcing of seven generic drugs; participation in the pan-Canadian price initiative, which has brought ten common generic drugs to 18 per cent of the brand name price; and PharmaCare coverage changes for DPP-4 inhibitor diabetes drugs. These efforts have saved tens of millions of dollars for PharmaCare.
Sovaldi and Harvoni are the second and third new hepatitis C drugs PharmaCare has covered in the past six months. In October, PharmaCare began coverage of Galexos (simeprevir) for certain people after successful negotiations to lower its price.
PharmaCare also covers Victrelis (boceprevir) and peginterferon/ribavirin, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.
Quick facts: Hepatitis C is a serious, communicable disease that is spread through direct contact with the blood of an infected person. There are about 80,000 people living with hepatitis C in B.C. People who are successfully treated and cured of hepatitis C infection are then not able to pass the disease on to others.