Sovaldi initiated the blockbuster season for Hepatitis C

With the FDA confirmation of Sovaldi (Sofosbuvir) and Olysio (Simeprevir), many patients with Hepatitis C, including those ones co-infected with HIV, will likely queue for long-term treatment.

It's here, and it's effective!

On December 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  approved Gilead Sciences' strongly promoted Sovaldi (Sofosbuvir), pointing out a great necessity for its use to treat patients with genotypes 1 up to 4 of Hepatitis C virus, including those co-infected with HIV and those who suffer from liver cancer and are waiting for a transplant surgery.

"This is a very considerable innovation," concludes Steven L. Flamm, MD, the chief of the liver transplant program at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in, who has been in charge of continuous trials of Sovaldi in cooperation with.

For the past two and a half years, the optimal treatment for Hep C has been a course including one out of two protease inhibitors-Incivek (Boceprevir) and Victrelis (Telaprevir)-in combination with Interferon and Ribavirin. Now Sovaldi promises to reduce optimal treatment to 12 to 24 weeks, moreover lessening adverse reactions and increasing cure rates from approximately 70 percent to the 80 to 90 percent range.

This could provide the chance of Interferon-free treatment to vast part of Americans, as 70 percent of cases of Hep C are genotype 1 and many specialists consider that simply not wanting to use Interferon characterizes someone as unacceptable for Interferon.

There is still an obvious factor against Olysio's potential for widespread application is the fact that, among those suffering from genotype 1a who have what's known as a Q80K polymorphism, just 58 percent reached a cure in Phase III trials. About half of American citizens with genotype 1a have the polymorphism.

Sovaldi demonstrated an unbelievable potency to fight the virus like no other drug proved before. The research is still carried in order to detect other properties that could help fight this silent killer even quicker. This action should be done urgently as if left untreated; Hepatitis C can cause liver cancer, liver damage and finally liver failure. This drug is a real hope in this matter. That is why, efforts are directed at identifying the best properties and seeking out the best treatment courses that might prevent its advance and kill it.

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