There are two other drugs that have FDA approval that were approved in 2011, however the new drug, Olysio is stated to require a shorter treatment time. The drug is in pill form
so easy enough there.
The drug is meant for those who have both had prior treatment and those who have not been treated before for the disease. During treatment time patients are advised to avoid sun exposure and use sun screens. Side effects are pretty minimal with nausea, itching and rash. BD
U.S. regulators on Friday approved the use of Johnson & Johnson's Olysio, also known as simeprevir, as a treatment for chronic infection with the liver-destroying hepatitis C virus.
Olysio, a protease inhibitor that blocks a specific protein needed by the virus to replicate, is to be used in combination with interferon, given by injection, and ribavirin, another pill.
Hepatitis C affects about 3.2 million Americans, killing more than 15,000 each year, mostly from illnesses such as cirrhosis and liver cancer.
The often-undiagnosed virus is transmitted through contaminated blood. Infection rates have dropped since the early 1990s, due in part to the introduction of blood and organ screening. Still, many older adults remain at risk, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has called for baby boomers to be routinely tested for the virus.
Olysio is a member of the same class of drugs as Merck & Co's Victrelis and Vertex Pharmaceuticals' Incivek. The FDA approved both those drugs in 2011.
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/fda-approves-pill-treat-hepatitis-c-2D11645059
0 comments :
Post a Comment