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,”

===

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



Personal Update



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

Good to hear your dad found his medication. Is better if our malaysia's pharmacy got carry.

Great information sharing!!

Thanks !

To all reading:
Please spread the awareness by sharing this thread as far as you can, you'll never know who you might be of help.

This post has been edited by dtdw: Jan 3 2018, 10:57 AM

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Desi-generics-firms-pave-way-for-cheaper-hepatitis-C-drug/articleshow/50609836.cms

The prices of the generics are falling. Please take these as a rough figure of where it's headed but don't expect the price to be so cheap just yet, as we don't have enough sources to prove that they are legit if bought at that price.

But what I wanted to highlight here is that, multiple sources have cited the generics cannot be imported to our country because we have granted patent to Gilead for Sofosbuvir. The problem still remain, that no one has gone public about whether they have successfully imported it to malaysia and able to pass kastam (even with doctors prescription letter).

The shipment from Bangladesh is now going through their kastam. I will update when it goes though our kastam as well.

Peace.

This post has been edited by dtdw: Apr 27 2017, 01:51 PM

Good news! Package from Bangladesh arrived safely via DHL.



The person name Alimul Razi has been very responsive via email and whatsapp. If you need, he can be found frequently in a few forums. I got his contact from fixhepc.com. Since this is quite a sensitive subject, I'll most likely link it to fixhepc so that you can make informed decision from that forum rather than from here, which is mainly to raise awareness and cover some current news around hep c cure.

More Pictures:

Today is a good day. If you count yesterday too, it's also good.

My dad started the treatment yesterday, with a green light from the doc.

Today, I've received a PM from a reader about a family member diagnosed with hep c and was also finding for information online. Don't worry, I will not disclose anything anyone wishes to send me whether it is questions or news. I am not a professional in any medical field, and probably not as up to date as Greg, but If there's anything I can help in my limited capacity, I will.

At first, I received 2 helpful replies, which I am thankful for. But after a while, I kept doubting if there's any use in creating a sub thread in a forum that is not geared specifically towards certain medical condition that other people can chip in.
As you all know, we only have one forum, unlike in the US/UK/AUS where they have tons of forums to seek advice and find for more information.

Now that someone PMed me, I am reassured that in time, I can reach to more people.

I will update the process on the OP regarding purchase process and trusted sources. We all know it's easy to get scammed, and must be prepared not to get scammed. Stay tuned.

Nothing much has been happening, a test is done to evaluate his condition, and it is OK. Not getting worse, but also not a viral load test which is more important, which is coming up soon.

Updated the post with information of the doc treating my dad which is long overdue. Only caught my attention today when someone PMed me about it because the person's doc did not recognize this new meds (which is not really new if the doc stays up to date on his own research. It's only new on the cheaper side of things due to the ability to buy it generically).

Glad that I could help in some way.

You should also start your father on milk thistle + dandelion. In addition to that, take turmeric with Virgin coconut oil + fresh crush black pepper.

Thanks for the advice. Many of these are supplements which i think should be taken after he finishes the course of medication. He has taken lots of supplements that cost far more than what was paid for these if you add the long term usage to it.

For example there's this L PRO thing, and someone also recommended Essentiale Forte to him, which I immediately researched and said no.

The reason is because this is a hep c virus. A virus that must be erradicated first. Supps preserve, but they don't cure. The doc also said the same thing which I agree : "you gotta kill the virus first, which is the root of the problem, then you can do whatever you want after that"

So I would be very careful on advicing supps which has a high chance of a placebo.

This post has been edited by dtdw: Feb 17 2016, 06:28 PM

Well I think one should take together as milk thistle and dandelion protects the liver. So you kill the virus and at the same time help to repair the liver. You can always get the seeds yourself if you are scared if it's placebo., grind it up and drink it.

Turmeric is not a placebo. You don't need a supplement for turmeric and is cheap.

Look into need leaves also. A very potent antiviral plant. Neem can be found easily in front of Indian temples, Indian houses. neem is the most bitter stuff I have ever tasted.

This post has been edited by Ramjade: Feb 17 2016, 08:44 PM

You are very helpful. I only fear that adding other things will skew the result, whether it's possitive or negative. What's important when doing such test is having absolute data. But of course that's not entirely possible, since some of the things we take daily affects the outcome even if it's not a supplement, plus many other factors.

If they (the supps) all relate very closely to the liver condition however, that data will be skewed and we wouldn't have known for certain what helped, or what didn't help. Although honestly speaking, I also want him to speed up the recovery. All these things I have read before it's very good, but for the sake of clinical test with higher accuracy, we have decided to not take it.

If it's my father, I will do everything to speed up his healing. What's there higher accuracy for? Unless the drug companies pay you for clinical trial, then it's right now taking extra stuff. But if they didn't pay you, why bother about accuracy? The goal here is get better faster. If you want to fully depend on drugs, you can wait a long time as drug companies are more interested in getting their money back.

You can go search up at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov about research using turmeric on liver. Yes, they are still in research but they will never be mainstream as you can't make money selling turmeric tea. You have to extract the natural substance, modify it and sell it as something. Btw, better to go for whole turmeric rather than just curcumin.

I probably wont go into more details on my decsision but you have to understand that when you're on a course of treatment you are monitored by the doc. And when you have a specific virus to kill using drugs, you need to have proof that the drug is responsible for it.

Lets say the test shows his viral load count is lower. How do you proof it? And if it went up some more, what causes it? Treating liver condition is a long process, I believe for any other long term sickness is the same thing. The viral load test has to be done 4 weeks after, and then 12 weeks after. And then years later.

If the meds worked, good, that means he doesnt even need supplement. If he took the supps with the med, and the test result showed improvement, is it all hooray? Not at all, because the virus might come back, but he will be hapily thinking the supps were helpful, whereas there's a 24 weeks course that could have completely kill the virus due to his cirosis.

Now if someone wants to take the risk and use supps to try and kill the virus, they can. I don't recommend it, but is that person willing to risk it? Do he have stash of money lying around to proof that it works? If so, that person will contribute alot to the community. Perhaps you can contribute too if you have a certain condition.

Hence why its all about data. If you go fixhepc site, its all data everywhere. I rather believe in data, cure it with data, then consider other things.

Bro,

Who mentioned anything about stopping drugs? What I am saying is combine both. Like I said repair should be done at the same time as killing the virus. One thing medical world is they will never acknowledge stuff like milk thistle, turmeric for hepatoprotection.

Btw data from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov are raw data and not just hearsay. Is not any blog. Those are research papers, journals done by researchers.

Haha bro, you need to read again, I didn't mention any word of stopping it anywhere. I don't wanna turn this into our own argument, but you need to go read all the things related to hep c again.

I will say this, unless you're in the same situation as me, you can express your thoughts freely without implication. But to a condition sufferer, it's a whole different story. So, unless you are directly related to the condition we are discussing here, which is a virus attacking the liver, then I'd very much appreciate that you refrain from confusing the patients, and family members related to the patient.

Like I said, if someone here that's a first party with hep c willing to take the supplements being recommended by you or anyone, and then take a before and after viral load test to show results, they can. And unless they do it, and are convinced enough to do it to proof to other patients that it works, then we shouldn't say and recommend these other sources to any patients.

You have good intention I appreciate that, but this is a sensitive topic we have to tread carefully. As a 3rd party to other illness, I also can recommend all these supps. I myself is facing a certain IBS, which many ppl would have said IBS isn't a real thing and it's all in the mind. Do this, take this, sure. I'm on course of alot of IBS related supps, no doc recommendation at all. But this illness doesn't lead me to a certain health threat like death, which is what this virus can do to a patient.

One more thing, as you know older people tend to believe almost everything written on the internet. Do you know how my dad got into such a bad condition? Because he read that certain salt from certain place helps his body to be more healthy. Little did we know that taking too much salt leads to sodium and ultimately causing water retention. Lucky? I don't know. If he didn't show external symptom, we all wouldn't have known how bad his liver condition is. But there were alot worse stuffs that the chinese 'doctors' recommend him to take, which he took without much use, all without solid evidence or data.

What is proven with lots of data though, is harvoni, and there isn't anywhere mentioning the patients needing to take any other things to help the recovery.

This post has been edited by dtdw: Feb 19 2016, 10:53 AM

What's there to confuse the patient? You are taking the drug along with proven liver protective herbs. Turmeric black pepper and coconut oil are easily available. You don't need to spend a fortune for those. Less than rm100 enough to last for at least 1-2 months.
I back my statements with facts.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23903236


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK92752/
Hepatitis B virus might not be same with the C virus but they are in the same family.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3600681/


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20026048

Did your father have cirrhosis? Did the doctor tell you that you must restrict oil in his diet? Did he also mentioned that MCT oils are recommended for cirrhosis patients? Coconut oil is the only oil with > 50% MCT. Best part is Virgin coconut oil is also anti-viral. Of course must restrict also.

Also did he give your father vitamin K supplementation?

Curcumin is just one part of turmeric. Better to take the whole root for maximum effectiveness.

This post has been edited by Ramjade: Feb 19 2016, 11:34 AM

None of us know anything for sure. I don't know how this or any other supps will work.

Here's what is said by this article. http://www.webmd.com/hepatitis/features/hepatitis-c-alternative-treatments - "Dietary and herbal supplements can't cure hepatitis C, but many people take them to try to ease their symptoms or get relief from the side effects of treatment. Do they work? For most of these products, scientists don’t have a firm answer."

Now I'm not saying people can't take it. Everyone is free to express their opinion, and patients have their own choice. If I wanted to restrict public opinion I would've created a blog and publish all the info there, but I chose to do it in the forum. I do applologize if I am on the offense side of things in my recent comments.

Here's the thing to everyone: No matter what you take, and which path you choose, always confirm it with data. If you decide to take the supps instead of the more expensive pills, that doesn't mean you don't need to go for a checkup for viral load test. My dad took lots of supps, but he didn't go for a checkup and just assumed that he is OK. Here's just a sample of the supps he took:

Some still haven't finish. We have decided to defer it until post-treatment with hopefully SVR12

What @ramjade suggested is to take the combination of pills and supplements. As I have mentioned it before, it [could] be a waste of money or effort. It's like saying, well why take 1 vitamin C when taking 5 vitamin C is better? Hence, why my comment is about choosing. Do you really need to take the pills and supps together? There's little to no evidence that taking drugs with the supps speed up the healing.

This post has been edited by dtdw: Apr 27 2017, 01:52 PM

Turmeric is cheap la. Virgin coconut oil is cheap as one bottle can last ~3 months. Easily available from aeon, aeon big, tesco.1kg of black peppercorn is also cheap.

There's little evidence that taking drugs with supplements speed up the healing? Turmeric was in the cross hair of pharmaceutical companies back in the 70s because they wish to patent turmeric as a wound healing agent. Thank god, it didn't happen. Btw, the mechanism of wound healing internally and externally are the same.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25200875

Btw, did your doctor prescribe vitamin K for your father? Cirrhosis patients should receive vitamin K as the liver is unable to produce vitamin K.

This post has been edited by Ramjade: Feb 20 2016, 11:04 AM

Thanks for sharing this. My brother suffered from this disease since late 90s because of blood transfusion. I'll check more on the twinvir.

The lab test takes 1 whole month to process, which is very frustrating for us because that means we might need to take another course of 12 weeks and that means more money spent.

Thankfully, the result came in positive. The doc suggest to extend it even though the result is postive due to cirrosis and added ribaravin in there. I'm not very sure, but that itself adds some more complication in the already complicated matter.

I'll post the data tommorow when I get the chance. This has been a long journey.

@kaikeri :
That was what happened to my dad too. Blood transfusion. Sidenote, there might have been some issue with imports from bangladesh due to some war on terror (that's what i saw on fixhepc). Hopefully our country hasnt ban imports yet, as I might need to order another set.

Hello,
Twinvir can be send through courier to Malaysia. For detail contact either Asif Mostafa at amostafa@inceptapharma.com or Alimul Razi at alimul@inceptapharma.com

Thanks

Suprised to see a rep signed up at a Malaysian forum. I've dealt with Alimul Razi for the first time and just ordered a 2nd batch of meds (reason below). So I can confirm he's a trustworthy guy if you're buying Twinvir from Incepta pharma. I have no affiliation with them. You don't have to take my word alone for it, since they are one of the top recommended companies in fixhepc.com

Been delaying this so much but here it is:

Before:


After:


Why it takes so long for one test to another, I am not sure. IMO test should be done every 2 weeks, which is what most Australians will do. As long as the insurance is covering it, the hospital also shouldn't delay it. I cropped out the portion where the date is present, and it actually is 2 weeks, but the doc/hospital said it takes one month for the result to come back to them. This to me means our healthcare is lacking in many ways (maybe a doc wanna come in and correct me and explain why they do things so slow?).

Anyway, as I've mentioned, the result came in and it shows <15 IU/mL and there's still roughly 20+ days of supply left. But idk why, the doc suggested to take another 12 weeks to ensure it is completely cured. Of course, they look at many things to make their best-guessed-judgement, since IMO he doesn't have alot of patients undergoing such treatment and my dad /might/ be his first patient, so of course my dad is like a lab rat lah frankly speaking. I don't even see Riba being recommended for 1a cirrosis in fixhepc also, but the doc prescribe him that. Obviously, my dad bought it but decided not to take it because it's a doc's best-guessed-judgement and not a 100% judgement. But the new batch is bought anyway, and I'm so thankful that we have got support from churches. 10k is alot of money to fork out, YMMV, but if you don't have past treatment, is not in one of those genotype that's /harder/ to cure, and no cirrosis, even 8 weeks is doable from what I've read in fixhepc.

To all considering and undergoing treatment: HWAITING !

//

This post has been edited by dtdw: Jan 3 2018, 10:58 AM

This has caught my attention....
Twinvir eh?

Yep, Twinvir. There's of course the cheaper ones from India, but is way riskier from what I have read and that's why I don't wanna go that route. So it's only recommended for people who really can't afford the extra cost.

On the other hand, if a patient is G3, which according to statistics is the majority in our country, the meds are already very cheap.

Quote from http://fixhepc.com/getting-treated/genotyp...-treaments.html :

"For genotype 3 Sofosbuvir + Ribavirin OR Sofosbuvir + Daclatasvir +/- Ribavirin"

Darvoni product name by Beacon Pharma, Sof+Dac, is $700 +/- More info here: http://fixhepc.com/forum/daa-access/439-be...o.html?start=15

*not a medical advice, please seek doctor's prescription.

So... the new batch arrived. Pretty fast service, and the DHL guy's face was curious why I ship item from this location also, lol. I see him all the time for iherb stuffs.



Will be back for another report and see you in another 3 months time. I've yet to find out what exactly is the cost for blood test for viral load count and liver profile. Pretty sure we wont be doing the test so soon anymore because insurance coverage is over.

At the meantime, I'll continue to post about anything hep c related news when i come across them.

https://www.facebook.com/darvoni.beacon/
http://www.darvoni.com/

For cheaper Hepatitis C products.

Just an update, nothing groundbreaking for the majority, news about cheaper cure that Malaysia is launching.

Turns out, its actually for genotype 4 http://www.worldhepatitisalliance.org/late...is-c-genotype-4

For anyone with g4, this is good news indeed, if you have time wait that is. But as noted the majority of fellow Malaysians are type 1 and 3.

This post has been edited by dtdw: Jan 3 2018, 11:01 AM

dtdw


Taken from Principles and Practice of Phytotherapy Modern Herbal Medicine 2nd edition.

This post has been edited by Ramjade: May 31 2016, 08:36 PM

Ok. I just realized that I didnt update the latest or rather final report here. As I have mentioned it was already at a very low level of virus so there isn't much "surprise" there, cuz you know, its almost unlikely to go south.

So yes, he is cured ! I will try to find out where that piece of paper went.

Thank you for reading and also some supporters along the way. I receive PM from readers from time to time (at least when this post was up months ago) and I was pretty sure something went wrong somewhere and I stopped receiving them lately (my guess is still the forum's fault because it has terrible reach on google).

That said, if you still have questions which I have not covered you can post it here or PM me.

BIG updates. Firstly, my dad went for a re-checkup direct to the lab, and the results are good. Virus N/A (okay the medical term is probably not called n/a) !

Secondly, I received a msg from Alimul @ Incepta that they are carrying a new generic version of Epclusa called Panovir. Panovir is @ USD 1100 slightly higher than twinvir.

Didn't wanna quote gilead here but http://www.gilead.com/news/press-releases/...nic-hepatitis-c

Basically, the gist of it says it treats all ranges. I haven't done deep research on this yet, but that means less headache for everyone.

This post has been edited by dtdw: Nov 17 2016, 02:17 PM

It depends on which lab you go & what type of test you do.
Normal blood serum for Renal or Liver Function test can be done fast within few hours. When you go to immunoassay test, it takes more time up to days to complete, and another confirmation test need to be done using another method to confirm the results are "REAL & accurate".
When you further to viral load genome typing test, it takes longer time.

The lab you went is using my company analyzers

ps: since your dad is recovered, you have to jaga his liver well as the liver was infected and will be weaker. You can't feel any pain or discomfort when your liver is damaged. When you realize time, it's already severe. Supplements like Milk Thistle is good for protecting the liver.

Thanks for your confirmation. I guess we're just a little too anxious that time. I'll look up into supplements and proper care.

Latest news from what you can expect for a local treatment. Okay i'm quite late, but now there's slightly more info on what our healthcare is doing.

Firstly, genotype 4 patients can rejoice, if you're willing to wait a little longer, maybe 18-24 months (that's long, very), you can have it as low as 300$.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016...on-of-the-cost/

It's called ravidasvir+sofosbuvir, when combined, no name yet, is said to have 100% cure rate (ok, there's no such thing as 100%, but whatever)

BUT, genotype 4 is very minimal in our country, and the most recent abstract at 2015, [Neither genotype 4 nor 5 was detected]
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26063029

None! And a dated one says it's at 1%.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4670951/

This post has been edited by dtdw: Jan 3 2018, 11:03 AM

I am a 70-year old Malaysian who has Hepatitis C and was treated on "Ribavirin" and "Interferon" for 6 months (5/2/15-14/7/15).

After 6 months,the SVR showed that it failed.

Now my doctor advised me to go to India to buy the new drug Sofosbuvir. For health reasons I'm unable to go there. I'd like to buy it online from Incepta Pharmaceutical in Bangladesh.

Please advise me on the procedure and documents.

Thank you in advance.

I have a PM regarding this from another person. Don't know how i missed this post.

The first thing is, to understand which genotype a patient is. This is important in order for the correct translation of the generic medicine.

Since you are suggested a Sofosbuvir, it generally means that you need to pair it with another generic (not a qualified opinion, but it is based on my own research using fixhepc.com). For my dad's case, when combined with ledipasvir, the branded name is Harvoni. We didn't take harvoni (since it's over 80k USD), instead we took the generic version of it Twinvir

Most of the details was actually posted on the first thread as well as in subsequent post updates. But i'll list it out again for everyone to see.

Step by step:
1. Get a doctor's prescription.

2. Contact Alimul Razi From Incepta Pharmaceutical and ask for the details.
a. His account name
b. The current price in USD.
c. Take out cash after converting USD to RM.

3. Go to one of your nearest western union branch and fill up a form.
a. One of the officer's name
b. Transfer in RM, after the counter convert the current exchange rate.
c. Get the receipt of transaction.

4. Email/Whatsapp Alimul the following
a. Your doctor's prescription
b. Your passport
c. Your receipt taken from western union.
d. Where you want the parcel to ship to.

5. Wait for Alimul to reply a tracking number.

6. Track the parcel on it's arrival. Sign and receive the package.

This post has been edited by dtdw: Dec 18 2016, 09:10 AM

Thank you very much for your information dtdw.

Glad to be of help

Just a reminder, please make very sure of your own research on this subject matter of genotype and it's appropriate medication. I seem to repeat myself on this alot, but I still need to stress this as a first rule advice because not many people know the amount of genotype and it's complication. The wrong combination or lack of it, will reduce the cure rate.

I am not qualified for an answer as to which exact combination is needed on top of sofosbuvir. Some doctors do not have the knowledge as to this subject matter as well.

I don't feel like doubting your doctor, but to recommend only sofosbuvir seem like a mistake to me, as what i have been told it needs to be with one other generic to make up the higher chance of cure rate.

If you can, I would suggest to register in http://fixhepc.com/forum.html and ask for a better opinion. There will be a doctor (Dr James Freeman) that is qualified to give a better opinion. In fact I asked them a few missing bits of info (which our doctor doesn't have) before i managed to source out the necessary information for my dad.

Wish you all the best in your journey to recovery

This post has been edited by dtdw: Dec 18 2016, 09:15 AM

Alternatively you could go this route. Save yourself few k(s) It's a case report of a real person.

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to dtdw in sharing his journey. A lot of information and ways being revealed and thanks again for PM with me throughout these few weeks.

My Mum, 75 years old, detected hepC 3 years back on a regular blood test. An experienced Doctor manage to pick it up. She is suspected get hit of it on her blood transfusion back in 1990's. and he has liver cirrhosis due to it.

My mum has hepC , geno type 3 , she need Daclatasvir + Sofosbuvir, without Ribavirin ( doctor recommendation and my research from internet shows same Combi) ( Further research shows my mum case is rare and mostly she needs a 24 weeks treatment)

As of last month of quotation from our doctor, the 12 weeks treatment is 250k ++-- subjecting to exchange rate ( sigh ....)

I had been asking and searching around , finally i reach here. Below is my comment after communication and decision making.


1) Beacon Pharma, anti viral product, they have 2 in 1 medicine. Approached them by wechat and email (Masfik - reply after 1 day), whatsapp ( Tamal - reply after 8 days ). Slow response and bad communication.
Price including shipment USD720 (12 weeks treatment) , invoice out by their company and clearly write out the medicine and ingredients you ordered. You need to wired bank in to their HK bank account.

2) Incepta Pharma, 2 types separate medicines for SOF + DAC, Approached Alimul through email and whatapps ( major communication tools). He gives me prompt response and no problem in understanding our concern and needs. Price including shipment USD1100 ( 12 weeks treatment), ( further step by step is as per describe by dtdw in details ) ( My experience with Western Union, advise directly go to Main Pos Malaysia in your area to get it done, i had been running few Banks but they give me a lot of suck reasons ... system down, limitation of 2.4k, only entertain foreign works ... etc )


We give a go to Alimul because of the smooth communication, his way of writing invoice and dtdw success case.

However, our shipment get blocks by MOH for 3 days. we had been worried for few days and finally it get release. In return, we manage to get the first batch of medicines together with warning letter from MOH of let you go once.

We are still analyzing the reason of blocking with dtdw, below are the suspected cause

1) volume of medicine, total 6 bottles per shipment because it is not 2 in 1 medicines. ( we are considering split shipment if another 12 weeks treatment is required.)
2) no doctor's prescription attached together, it is my mistake of over looking it, we only attach blood test report and ID copy.

We are planing to start the treatment after we get the latest viral count report in two weeks times. ( crossing my fingers)





Attached thumbnail(s)

coffee81

Thanks for your input and contribution. It is frustrating indeed to have nothing fall in our favor. As compared to widely available treatment for other common "illness" that seemingly can fall under insurance coverage (if eligible), hep c is indeed a headache and frustrates many people.

What you went through is a miracle indeed, as we can only pray and hope for not getting into trouble, just like my case.

I'm not sure if your doctor recommended the generic meds to you, or you did your own research? If your doc has recommended to you, you can easily ask for a prescription letter from him. It looks like this



And I also think Incepta Pharma has the combo for sof+dac, which will reduce the bottle to just 3 per 12 weeks treatment.

Few things I would like to point out as to why my shipment went through without issues for 2 times.

1. The declared amount is low, i won't state the amount (for obvious reasons)
2. The content is very little
3. Prescription letter to back it up
4. Sbg airport and DHL have good relationship, things past kastam easier thus avoid unnecessary inspection

Some pointers, technically it is not very little. 3 bottles is more than their 1 month no matter how i look at it, but they take all the above into consideration.

They can either look at all of it, or depending on their mood, and/or relationship with shipping company. Everyone has different results from my research based on people importing health supplement from places like iherb. Effectively, some people say 3 of each type of item is the max in 1 shipment, and the max is RM 400 (?). And yeah, the shipping company with the airport also play a role apparently.

This post has been edited by dtdw: Dec 24 2016, 08:55 PM

@dtdw

Thanks again for the point out. Our doctor recommended the drugs combi to us. It is matching my own research as well

I shall chase my doctor on the mentioned prescription.

Incepta does not have combo, this is the first thing Alimul mentioned to me and i went through their product list in their website too >.<

Mayb ask him the origin of this picture of Corevigen http://fixhepc.com/forum/daa-access/435-in...f-led-comb.html

A few of them in fixhepc managed to get it but very little info. Mayb they discontinued it i'm not too sure.

For those concerned about beacon pharma and wire-transfer issue, take a look at this thread http://fixhepc.com/forum/daa-access/1405-b...rmacuicals.html.

At first with Incepta I thought why is there so much hassle and even have to use western union, and the reps at Incepta told me something to do with bank issues. It is true indeed.

I also didn't know you can do WU transaction via Pos so it's good to know. I faced the same issue that banks have too many restriction, so one of the bankers advice we go straight to any WU standalone branch and things gets done easily.

This post has been edited by dtdw: Dec 25 2016, 08:35 AM

Happy new year everyone !

Let's all stay positive despite so many negative things we're receiving lately.

May 2017 bring you good wealth and health !

I will be getting my meds from India which may consist of at least 9 bottles as I have 3 types of meds (3 mths supply). Will there be potential issues with Malaysian Customs? Has anyone encountered this before? Or would it be advisable to ship in a few shipments i.e. split the meds into 3 shipments?

It's advisable to split it into 3 shipments, but you also need to split it to 3 different names and address if you're shipping it together.

I would however recommend you to get combined version of the generics as that will reduce the amount of bottles needed. But if it is really unavoidable like the previous person (due to lack of combination of the generic), then you'd have to split it. He got the letter of warning is most likely because he didn't provide the prescription letter.

If you can get the doc to confirm if his prescription letter allows you to import 9 bottles, then it's all the better. Just ask the doc to write it clearly the name of the generic, the brand, and the amount of bottles. If it gets stuck in customs, the letter should provide backups and the hospital is responsible for it since they issued it. Although I can't confirm if it works this way since I've never tried it (with this many bottles).

Example:

3x abc (brand x)
3x def (brand x)
3x ghi (brand x)

You can refer to the post above for example of a true copy of prescription letter.

This post has been edited by dtdw: Feb 3 2017, 12:09 PM

Thank you for the information. Appreciate your effort.

You're welcome. Awaiting for your updates.

>>

For everyone that's following, If I didn't reply on time here, you can reach me via PM.

The notification goes to my email which I check everyday.

Had a few people PM me for some advice, which is great.

I'm glad this is picking up, never thought this will gain traction (if any).



Hopefully we'll be seeing some updates soon by others, the more people update with proof, the better it is for everyone who's suffering from HCV.

This post has been edited by dtdw: Feb 16 2017, 08:51 PM

wow!!! i see very useful information over here , just add some more information here, regarding Indian Generic medicine please read , i just write for patient who cant differentiate the indian medicine.

Why India can produce and sell generic Harvoni?

Usually a drug such as Harvoni is patented and the originator (in this case Gilead Sciences) has an exclusivity on producing and selling the drug. However, even when Sovaldi came out in December 2013 in the US, India had problems with paying such a high price for a life-saving disease. Because India is such a big market with more than 1 billion people and estimated more than 30 million Hepatitis C patients, Gilead Sciences had agreed to give licences to India's pharmaceutical plants to produce and sell generic Harvoni and generic Sovaldi at a very low cost. On every sale, however, Gilead Sciences profits from royalties. Given that generic Harvoni is sold for around $10 per pill, if Gilead reaps $5 in royalties, there is still more than $10 billion to be made in India alone on Hepatitis C. In negotiations for this deal from which now every US or European Hepatitis C patient can benefit, it was stated by Indian authorities that they don't recognise the innovation that went into the development of Harvoni's active ingredient Sofosbuvir. Because the molecule is very similar to other antiviral drugs that already exist in the market, Gilead went on to give licences to produce generic Sovaldi at first, and when Harvoni came out in the US the licence to produce generic Harvoni followed.

I have just received a message from @Aniketsancheti.

I would like to stress that we will prefer not to deal with personal messages from dealers, but if you can list your sources that can be validated via fixhepc.com then it shall be no problem.

For anyone that might have received messages from various dealers, just double confirm the company is listed in fixhepc.com and it's contact details are accurate.

Have a nice day.

An interesting read and good information.

Tq, dtdw

Nearing end of apr, here's the report on the awareness.

I'm getting occasional PM, some from newly registered members.

Here's the search term so far



It's ranked last, i'm hoping to beat the rest if at all possible. The rest of the sites are just plain lousy in conveying facts and truth.

In terms of SEO, i said it before, i strongly believe this site is giving too many do-follow outbound links which google doesn't like very much.

I hope to reduce the amount of links on the first post yet still able to convey facts and figures.

If anyone is reading this and want to help, all you need to do is search the term, scroll down to this forum link post and click on the results. This will push it up and eventually rank it higher than these useless news portal.

Look at this themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/moh-to-propose-importing-generic-hepatitis-c-meds all talk and still talking, until when they wanna talk? It's been 1 year since i started this topic and 2 years since some article talked about expensive prices.

This post has been edited by dtdw: Apr 27 2017, 01:37 PM

[quote=dtdw,Jan 15 2016, 03:40 PM]

Thanks for all your effort in sharing...

God bless you

This post has been edited by DZW: Jan 4 2018, 03:12 PM

I know someone that brings in Hep C medicine to Malaysia.

and by far few patients has taken and now completely cure. No viral load 6 months after treatment.

PM me

Just an update, i'm still around if anyone wants more info. Ive responded to a few PM and will go through a few more. I wasnt well myself this week, so please bear with me.

August update.

Nothing much to report, everything is fine, if you need more info feel free to pm me.

A very good information and as a guidance ..
Tqvm dtdw.

I have just purchased MyHep LVIR (Mylan) from India (via postage) to treat Hep C (Gen 1a). Item has been shipped earlier today via DHL Express Worldwide. Finger crossed to receive it within the next 2-3 days.

1 question though, how do i determine the authenticity of the tablet from Mylan ? Is there anything specific which i can check for?

Hey, if you've done proper research and sourced the generics correctly, you have nothing to worry about.

I would suggest to head over to fixhepc and ask around there if they can help to verify.

Edit: Rephrased

This post has been edited by dtdw: Feb 6 2018, 08:45 AM

Yes, thanks for the suggestion, I was also thinking of the same. Will post the same question there to see if anyone had prior experience purchasing from Mylan and how to check for originality. Thanks again

Quick update :

I received my MyHep LVIR medication yesterday and started my 1st pill around 4 pm.
Thus far no major side effects , just felt my lips have a "mild burning sensation" and thats about it. I am also going to be on a vegetarian diet for the next 12 weeks while i'm on this meds, and will be eating only "greens" with daily 1.5 KM of cumulative swimming exercise.

Can wait for 4 pm today for my 2nd pill intake and i have a blood test scheduled on 5th march 2018 which is 3 weeks away. Hope to see some improvements on the viral load during that test.

FYI, last test done on 5th Feb 2018, Viral Load was 4.85 million.

Does anyone know where i can do the viral load test and get the results within 1-2 days max (without the usual 2 weeks wait for the results) ? TQ

Hi All,

Would like to provide an update. Just got my 4 week blood-test results today and its UNDETECTED. Thanks to MyHep LVIR. Will still finish the 12 week treatment though.

Hey, thats great to know ! I have not been checking this thread as of late, i missed that question earlier. I cant find the name of the centre that does this test but what i do know is the patient will still need a letter from a Dr.

@dtdw

Hi All,

My mum, 77 years old lady, completely cured after taking 2 x treatment (6 months) and no viral load presence after another 6 months ^^

Thanks a lot dtdw.


Below are some highlights i would like to share out.


1) second times purchase with smaller volume and different name were being block by MOH again. They call me to confirm the relation of receiver and the patient. Asking for clear copy doctor prescription and they personally went to our doctor for verification on the evidence. We manage to go through it at the end.

2) Hence my suggestion, no need split to small volume, use the patient name as receiver and MAKE sure the doctor prescription is attached and clearly written the volume. Make sure the sender attached and print out clearly.

Dear All,

Since i have reached SVR 4 for my Hep C treatment, i have 3 extra bottles of MyHep LVIR which i have purchased extra (initially purchased 24 weeks treatment but so far cleared the virus with 12 weeks of treatment).

I would like to offer this to anyone else who needs it at the cost price which i purchased it from India. This works for Gen 1a because i am living proof of the eficacy.

Please reach out to me if anyone is interested to purchase

So far not needed if once you finish your initial prescribed medication cycle and reach SVR after 4 weeks of finishing the medicine.

I would like to share this information with who needed to import the hep C medicine from overseas.
Fill in the form I attached , if want import medicine from other country later custom will not blocked it.



I cannot upload the PDF file. So, I just can screenshot and attach here.

This post has been edited by carolwinnie: Aug 15 2018, 02:30 PM

Hi, after reading this. I just noticed some is need help in bringing the Med in Malaysia and facing the problem of custom.

What if i can help in bring this? because i had helping my patients on this issue for few years already. And one of them mentioned to me about this page.

If you need help on this, can PM me. I can refer the agent for you. Just my 2 cents help. :-)