PBS listing to save sufferers thousands

As of August 1, MAVIRET a new hepatitis C treatment is listed on Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

MAVIRET, an eight-week, pan-genotypic treatment for chronic hepatitis C patients (new to treatment and without cirrhosis), is now available at a subsidised rate.

According to Hepatitis Australia, approximately 200,000 Australians live with hepatitis C, with an additional 10,000 new infections every year, around 90 per cent of Australians living with hepatitis C are without cirrhosis yet have not been treated.

Left untreated, hepatitis C can cause cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer and is responsible for more than 600 deaths annually in Australia.

The therapy contains two direct-acting anti-viral agents that work to block the lifecycle of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in a patient; doctors consider a patient virologically cured of HCV if the patient has undetectable levels of the virus 12 weeks after completing the treatment course.

The PBS listing is part of the federal government’s $1 billion investment in new direct-acting antiviral treatments to help reach the World Health Organisation target of eliminating hepatitis C by 2030.

Professor Gregory Dore, head of the viral hepatitis clinical research program at the University of New South Wales, said the inclusion of MAVIRET was a major step forward.

“The inclusion provides a further tool in the strategy to eliminate hepatitis C as a public health threat in Australia, and globally. For people living with hepatitis C, particularly those who are new to treatment, this new regimen provides another treatment option,” he said.

Australians with hepatitis C are encouraged to see their GP to have their liver health assessed and to discuss treatment options.