Focused on developing accessible, affordable, hepatitis C (HVC) drugs, Robert Hindes, MD, serves as chief medical officer of Trek Therapeutics. Robert Hindes, MD, has a strong interest in the health benefits and costs associated with new antiviral treatments for HVC, in particular the way that prices can be decreased within a particular market in which new treatments have far higher cure rates than before.
A 2015 microsimulation study published by the Infectious Diseases Society of America looked at US adults with HCV as well as a number of factors, including sustained viral response (SVR), medical costs, death, incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs).
The conclusion was that newer, more expensive sofosbuvir and ribavirin treatment regimens significantly increased QALYs and reduced deaths. At the same time, they resulted in a $26.2 billion incremental cost, or an ICER of more than $47,304 per QALY. A sofosbuvir and simeprevir regimen was even more expensive, representing an incremental cost of $80.1 billion and an ICER of $47,304 per QALY.
Due to high costs, financing treatment for Americans who should receive antiviral therapy is challenging, considering the sheer number of untreated and undiagnosed individuals.
A 2015 microsimulation study published by the Infectious Diseases Society of America looked at US adults with HCV as well as a number of factors, including sustained viral response (SVR), medical costs, death, incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs).
The conclusion was that newer, more expensive sofosbuvir and ribavirin treatment regimens significantly increased QALYs and reduced deaths. At the same time, they resulted in a $26.2 billion incremental cost, or an ICER of more than $47,304 per QALY. A sofosbuvir and simeprevir regimen was even more expensive, representing an incremental cost of $80.1 billion and an ICER of $47,304 per QALY.
Due to high costs, financing treatment for Americans who should receive antiviral therapy is challenging, considering the sheer number of untreated and undiagnosed individuals.
