Incivo listed on PBS
March 25, 2013
THE Federal Government has
included Incivo (telaprevir) on the
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
for the treatment of chronic
hepatitis C genotype-1 infection in
combination with peginterferon
alfa and ribavirin from 01 April
2013.
The listing means that up to
120,000 Australians with Genotype
1 hepatitis C will be soon eligible to
receive subsidised access to the
new antiviral medication.
The drug is a protease inhibitor,
and belongs to a new class of
medicine known as direct-acting
antivirals that represent the first
new treatment for hepatitis C in
over a decade.
The therapy works to prevent the
virus replicating in people infected
with genotype-1 hepatitis C virus,
considered the hardest strain to treat.
“Hepatitis C can be cured, but
until now only 2% of people with
the infection received treatment
each year,” said Professor Geoff
McCaughan, Head of the Liver
Immunobiology Program,
Centenary Research Institute.
“The listing creates an environment
where the opportunity to
effectively treat and cure a patient
with chronic hepatitis C genotype-1
has never been better,” he added.
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