Hepatitis C

NHS England announces ‘huge investment’ for new hepatitis C treatments

The NHS in England has agreed to increase the budget available to fund new treatments for chronic hepatitis C to £190m, a rise from the budget of approximately £40m made available in 2014.…

New costly treatments for hepatitis C and cancer added to WHO essential drug list

The World Health Organization has added new costly treatments for hepatitis C, cancer and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis to its updated Model List of Essential Medicines, opening the way for potentially improved access at affordable prices by patients worldwide. …

Hepatitis C drugs hit by incompatibility warnings

Gilead’s hepatitis C drugs Harvoni and Sovaldi and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Daklinza have been hit by warnings from drug regulators regarding their incompatibility with amiodarone.…

Antihistamine could be used as a cheaper hepatitis C therapy, study suggests

An anti-allergy treatment is effective in treating hepatitis C virus, a study has found, raising hopes of an affordable weapon in the fight against the virus. …

Rolling out hepatitis C treatments will be costly

The new generation of heptatitis C antivirals is highly effective, but the drugs’ expense will put pressure on healthcare providers.…

Latest advances in hepatitis C therapy

The availability of new protease inhibitors is revolutionising the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection.…

EU approval of AbbVie’s hepatitis C combination therapies challenges Gilead’s Harvoni

A highly effective therapy for patients with hepatitis C is being launched by AbbVie in the EU over the next couple of months in direct competition with another treatment made by Gilead that was approved in 2014 and is now being rolled out. …

Beethoven’s musical electrocardiograms

Could Beethoven have suffered from cardiac arrhythmia? His music suggests he could have.…

2014: The Pharmaceutical Journal’s news in review

Looking back at some of the biggest news stories from the past year. …

Community pharmacists could screen at-risk groups for liver disease

According to The Lancet’s commission, community pharmacists could play a key role in helping to improve liver disease services in primary care, say hepatology specialists.…