New Treatments Could Cure HCV in All Veterans Within 3 Years

Direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) could cure all veterans with hepatitis C virus (HCV) within 2 to 3 years, according to new research.1

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The findings will be presented at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

For their study, researchers assessed 107,079 instances of HCV antiviral treatment regimens being used in the veterans affairs healthcare system between 1999 and 2015.

Treatment rates and cure rates were based on a negative HCV viral load at least 12 weeks after the end of treatment.

Between 1999 and 2011, antiviral treatment rates were low (1989 to 7196 treatments per year). The rates did not increase following the introduction of the first DAAs in the time between 2011 and 2013 (2943 to 5207).

However, newer DAAs introduced in 2013 and 2014 significantly improved treatment rates: 9180 treatments in 2014 and 31,028 in 2015.

The number of cured veterans increased even more significantly with new DAAs, from less than 2300 per year in 1999-2011 to 6957 in 2014 and 28,084 in 2015. The cure rate increased from 20% in 1999 to 90% in 2015.

“The introduction of effective direct antiviral agents together with the allocation of appropriate funds and resources allowed the VA healthcare system to treat and cure hepatitis C in unprecedented numbers,” the researchers concluded.2

"Further increases in funding for antiviral medications and reductions in the cost of antiviral medications that occurred in 2016, suggest that the VA has the capacity to cure the majority of HCV-infected Veterans in VA care within the next 2-3 years."1

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

  1. Moon AM, Green P, Berry K, Ioannou GN. Towards eradication of hepatitis C virus infection in the Veterans Affairs national healthcare system: a study of 107,079 antiviral treatment regimens administered from 1999-2015. Hepatology Hepatology – Special Issue: The 67th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases: The Liver Meeting 2016. Abstract 227. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hep.28796/full.
  2. 3 Years: The Time It Could Take To Cure Nearly Every Veteran with Hepatitis C [news release]. Boston, MA: American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. http://www.aasld.org/events-professional-development/liver-meeting/press/3-years-time-it-could-take-cure-nearly-every-veteran-hepatitis-c. Accessed November 11, 2016.