Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Jul;36(7):929-32.
doi: 10.1111/liv.13157.

The use of generic medications for hepatitis C

James A D Freeman  1 , Andrew Hill  2
Affiliations

The use of generic medications for hepatitis C

James A D Freeman et al. Liver Int. 2016 Jul.

Abstract

Hepatitis C, hepatitis B, HIV, TB and malaria are the five major causes of infectious disease death worldwide. In a breakthrough that rivals the invention of penicillin, drugs that cure hepatitis C, with minimal side effects and high success rates, have reached the market, but, in what must be one of the greatest tragedies of modern times, these life-saving medications are not being deployed on a mass scale. Pharmaceutical patents are gifted to private corporations by governments for the dual purposes of protecting R&D expenditure and encouraging innovation. Unfortunately the monopoly pricing power these patents provision currently lacks adequate checks and balances, is open to abuse, and is quite clearly being abused. The sort of legislative changes required to deliver on the original goals of pharmaceutical patents will take years or even decades to eventuate. Parallel importation of generic medication offers hope to the millions of patients with HCV unable to afford access to vastly overpriced originator medications. Doctors prescribing and monitoring patients taking generics can take comfort from the fact that the REDEMPTION trial results show, like the HIV generics that came before them, that HCV generics deliver robust clinical results.

Keywords: REDEMPTION-1; direct-acting antiviral; generic; hepatitis C.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Retail price for Sofosbuvir in selected countries around the world.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Hoen EF. The global politics of pharmaceutical monopoly power: drug patents, access, innovation and the application of the WTO Doha Declaration on TRIPS and public health. Diemen: AMB; 2009. 136 p. Available at http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/documents/s20963en/s20963en.pdf. Accessed: 10 April 2016.
    1. Boulet P, Garrison C, Hoen E. Drugs patents under the spotlight: Sharing practical knowledge about pharmaceutical patents. MSF. Geneva: SRO‐Kundig; 2003. May. Available at http://www.who.int/3by5/en/patents_2003.pdf. Accessed: 10 April 2016
    1. UNITAID . Hepatitis C medicine: Technology and market landscape – update. Switzerland: UNITAID; 2015. Available at http://www.unitaid.eu/images/marketdynamics/publications/Hepatitis_C_Med.... Accessed: 10 April 2016.
    1. Light DW, Lexchin JR. Pharmaceutical research and development: what do we get for all that money? BMJ 2012; 344: e4348. - PubMed
    1. Rubin R. Gilead avoids billions in U.S. Tax on its $1,000‐a‐Pill drug. [Place unknown]: Bloomberg; 2015. [updated 2015 Feb 27;]. Available at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-26/gilead-avoids-billions.... Accessed: 10 April 2016.