Royalty-free licence for key hepatitis C treatment
Royalty-free licence for key hepatitis C treatment
A new royalty-free licence agreement has been signed between the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and pharmaceutical company AbbVie for glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (G/P). News of the agreement was announced by the MPP on 12 November.
G/P is an oral combination medicine that needs to be taken only once a day and has achieved cure rates as high as 98% in non-cirrhotic patients across all genotypes of the virus. WHO recommends G/P as a first-line treatment for people with hepatitis C infections, including those with renal impairment.
To date, access to the medicine has been limited because of its high cost. The licence will enable manufacturers to develop and sell affordable generic versions of the medicine in 99 low- and middle-income countries.
Globally, some 71 million people are currently living with chronic hepatitis C infections, of which an estimated 20% (14.2 million) have been diagnosed, while only 7% (5 million) are currently receiving treatment. (Bull World Health Organ. 2019 Jan 1;97(1):4-5. doi: 10.2471/BLT.19.010119.)