www.msf.org/article/access-patent-challenge-hearing-gilead-hepatitis-c-drug-sofosbuvir-starts-india
Patent.
"Patents for sofosbuvir have been rejected in Egypt, China and Ukraine, and further patent oppositions have been filed in Argentina, Brazil, Russia, Thailand and the EU."
I think Malaysia granted patent to Sofobusvir.
Another point I wanted to highlight:
“Gilead wants the world to think their licensing deals have solved the global problem of access to this medicine, but today countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Brazil are being asked to pay thousands of dollars for sofosbuvir from Gilead, when Indian generic versions of the drug are now available for as little as $335 per 12-week treatment,”
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The original post where I started writing (which I might change in the future):
Do you have Hepatitis C but have been told that it cost a bomb (84k USD), and that past treatment were with very low success rate plus unfavorable side effects?
Then you need to know that now, you can indeed cure this disease with higher success rate, and it cost less than RM 10k (even I got it for as low as RM 5.4k).
I will update this with more info as I progress and add missing bits when necessary.
The reason why I write this is because there is very little information about this topic when it comes to our country, so I want to spread the information.
Important!
Before you go out and buy the meds, read this first.
Please do not import this or any medication without a doctors' prescription letter. And you need to see a specialist before deciding to go ahead and purchase this, or any other medication. Depending on your genotype, different combination of the generic meds is needed, and they vary in price.
Another point is that our country's personal drug import law set by MOH says 1 person can only bring in 1 month's supply of personal use medication/supplement. If any of the sources tell you they don't need a prescription letter, there's a very high chance the product will be held at kastam, and/or the relevant authorities will give you a warning letter, which I read somewhere you can either be fined, or jailed.
If, however, the doctor you are visiting doesn't know about this new medication and tell you to not believe it, then the doc should be viewed as incompetent if he is truly a specialist. My advice is to change to another doc. The name of the doc that knew and recommended this treatment to my dad is this :
https://www.ramsaysimedarby.com/doctor_deta...al-kanagasabai/ (link updated)
If you cant get accessed to this doc however, here's the method to get the medication and test:
1. Ask your doctor to issue a prescription letter to import in the generics (You need to do blood test first to determine genotype and viral load count, then visit fixhepc.com to check for the generics)
2. Do a periodic blood test to determine viral load count and liver health
Background
My dad is living with Hep C for the past 10 years, and have developed cirrhosis with quite a significant liver damage. We didn't know he had a pretty big liver scarring until he had a big tummy in less than a month. The doc told him it was water retention due to too much sodium in the body, which the liver can't filter and pass.
Our family knew he had Hep C, but as usual, we didn't investigate any further, because he didn't develop any symptom except for tummy bloating. Then the doc told us, there is a new generic that we can import in, that can cure hep c.
Current Situation
Right after the doc told us there's a cure, it's cheaper, and have high success rate, I went to google to search for this so called miracle cure. Firstly, some info about the pill. The patent name is Harvoni, and is patented by Gilead. Harvoni consist of Ledipasvir/sofosbuvir. So why do we need to go through so much trouble to get this? Click read more below in the spoiler.
Read more
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Personal Update
» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «
Buying process - Sources
This is a concern many people have, including me. The 4 main countries where you can get the generic from is India, China, Bangladesh, Australia.
They vary in price and trustworthiness. You can either fly there and bring back the meds, or import it. Many people have flown to these countries to get it themselves. I chose to import it although both options have their own risk. For the record as stated, I've had no trouble with Incepta Pharmateucals
India
One of the country licensed by Gilead to produce and sell the generic pill. Many companies and 3rd party are selling it. They range from so expensive, to so cheap (compared to other licensed generic manufacurer) you will need to think twice. So the main issue here is whether you can find a trusted source to buy from. The first person that went public about buying it from India is Greg Jefferys. If you are interested to get it from India, my suggestion is to go through him, his email can be found in his blog.
The price he quoted me is more expensive than I would buy from Incepta directly(see below), and he didn't want to recognize the cheaper price I told him about, saying it might be a scam. That's the price to pay for a middle man to do the job, IMO though, you really don't need to go through him and just get it from Incepta. Also another point is, I have posted on fixhepc and the community there including Dr James himself is all negative on the cheaper side of things, but they also don't want to take the effort to do further research on cheaper alternatives.
Bottom line: Only use this option if you're so hard pressed on budget, but you risk your life at the same time.
China
I am not familiar with getting it from China, but fixhepc has given ways to obtain it there. They sell it in powder form, and you would need to get a company that can compound it to the correct dosage. Some people had even managed to DIY it. Fixhepc however, got it from Mesochem, compound it, and then sell it to you.
Bangladesh
There's currently 2 companies that are listed in fixhepc.com as trusted source. The first is Incepta Pharmaceutical, and their Sof+Led product label name is Twinvir. As stated earlier in my post, Twinvir was first to release it in finished form of Sof+Led combo. They get the API from China, compound it, and sell it in finished form. They sent the pills to Australia to be tested by their lab, managed by Dr James Freeman of fixhepc. It turned out to be exact copies of Harvoni. The 2nd company Beacon Pharma is selling a different combo, which is sof/dac, they are cheaper, but due to lesser data being reported than sof+led combo, you don't really see much info online. Sof+Dac is used to treat type 3.
Australia
This is in my opinion the best of the bunch. Firstly, as mentioned earlier it's straight out of fixhepc, and the chances of them being a scam, wrong, mistake, or whatever bad things you can think of is very slim. Secondly, fixhepc is mentioned in lots of big publications, and Greg and Dr James (founder of fixhepc) mentions each other. The current pricing they have quoted me is 1600 USD. There is one caveat which I am not very certain of, is that you can only get it via a redemption etrial as explained here http://fixhepc.com/redemption-3 which might mean there is a chance you might not be qualified. If anyone is willing to share the details with me, I'll be happy to add.
Genotype and it's treatment
This is one area which I have very little knowledge about. So far I've only talked about harvoni which is treating type 1a for my dad, and I haven't much covered the rest unless someone with other type decides to come forward and be the voice for the community. I only post and update what I can, as far as evidence and data is concerned. As you can see, different genotype needs different combination of the treatment. This article linked is about Genotype Specific Treatments http://fixhepc.com/getting-treated/genotyp...-treaments.html
For genotype 1 which is combination of Sofosbuvir + Ledipasvir OR Sofosbuvir + Daclatasvir +/- Ribavirin. The doc didn't recommend sof+dac with riba combo, and obviously I also don't know if it's right or wrong. All I know is fixhepc has said sof+led is generally OK. It is the 2nd most common genotype in Malaysia, with type 3 being the most according to
www.msgh.org.my/resources/managementhepatitisc.htm
For genotype 3 you need Sofosbuvir + Ribavirin OR Sofosbuvir + Daclatasvir +/- Ribavirin. I can only post information but I won't have any evidence nor data, since I have no reason to ship in this combo nor will my dad and I be able to provide any proof of success. If you're type 3 and the doc has suggested you this, please post it here so you can help others too.
This post has been edited by dtdw: Feb 16 2018, 03:48 PM