FDA approves Victrelis as Hepatitis C drug
Washingotn, D.C., D.C., United States (AHN) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a drug to treat people with chronic hepatitis C.
The drug, Victrelis, is made by Merch of Whitehouse Station, N.J. It is meant for hepatitis C patients who have some liver function who have either not been previously treated for the disease or whose treatments have failed, according to an FDA press release.
In a trial for the drug, two-thirds of the 1,500 participants taking it experienced a sustained virologic response. This means that the hepatitis C virus was no longer detected in the blood 24 weeks after stopping treatment.
This happened when Victrelis was taken in combination with the drugs peginterferon alfa and ribavirin.
The FDA said that the combination could amount to a cure for hepatitis C, a debilitating and potentially-deadly disease affecting the liver. The disease can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, which can result in bleeding, jaundice, fluid accumulation in the abdomen, infections or liver cancer.
Hepatitis C is spread through exposure to infected blood, being born to a mother with the disease, sharing needles, having sex with an infected person, sharing razors, toothbrushes and from unsterilized tattoo needles.
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