NHS England Partners with Gilead, Merck and AbbVie to Eliminate Hepatitis C

The NHS will find and cure tens of thousands of additional people with hepatitis C as part of an innovative agreement that could help England become the first country in the world to eliminate the deadly virus.

More than 30,000 people have already benefited from new drugs that cure hepatitis C on the NHS in recent years.

Thanks to this investment, the mortality rate from hepatitis C-related liver disease has already decreased by more than 16% between 2015 and 2017. The NHS also finds savings in costs related to the decrease in the number of transplants liver in patients with hepatitis C, a reduction of nearly 40% in 2017 compared to 2015.

As part of the long-term plan and the recently announced agreement, NHS England and three pharmaceutical companies will work together to proactively identify and treat people who might not know they've got it. Hepatitis C, including people who are homeless and those with mental health problems.

Simon Stevens, Managing Director of NHS England, said: "It is not often that the opportunity to completely eradicate a disease presents itself, but now the NHS is taking concrete steps to achieve that goal.

"The sophisticated and rigorously rigorous negotiations of the NHS on behalf of patients and taxpayers mean that we are now able to reach affordable agreements with our life science partners to save even more lives and reduce their lives." significant health inequalities. "

Hepatitis C is a virus that can infect the liver and, if left untreated, cause serious or even fatal damage for many years. The virus is usually spread by blood-to-blood contact. It is estimated that in England 113,000 people are living with chronic hepatitis C. Many people with hepatitis C will live without a diagnosis. Due to the infection, they often do not show any specific symptoms until the liver has been severely injured. When symptoms appear, they can often be confused with other conditions.

The NHS's long-term plan focuses on reducing health inequalities. This agreement will provide services to isolated and hard-to-reach communities, including the homeless, people with mental disorders and other high-risk groups.

In addition to providing the five new anti-hepatitis C drugs at the best price for the NHS and taxpayers, the three pharmaceutical companies will also launch initiatives – in collaboration with local health departments, councils and volunteer groups – which will search for potential patients, search for infections and provide treatment for those who need it.

Rachel Halford, Managing Director of Hepatitis C Trust, said: "The Hepatitis C Trust is pleased with this development. Sixty-nine percent of people with the virus are currently undiagnosed; the funding provided in this agreement to help find people with hepatitis C and help them with treatment is revolutionary. We believe this agreement offers all stakeholders – patient organizations, pharmaceutical companies, clinicians, prison health services and addiction services – a unique opportunity to work together to reach everyone involved. By making sure we reach the most marginalized and the most difficult to mobilize, we will ensure that no one is left behind and we avoid unnecessary deaths. "

This agreement stems from a new approach to procurement adopted by NHS England, which aims to maximize competition between pharmaceutical companies to ensure the best possible deal for patients and taxpayers. The NHS England strategy was supported by the High Court in January earlier this year.

Professor Graham Foster, NHS England National Chair of Hepatitis C, said, "The clinical community is excited about the opportunities offered by this new initiative that will allow us to go further and more quickly in our efforts to eliminate hepatitis C as a problem factor in England. The new purchase allows us to prescribe all available treatments for hepatitis C and the increased focus on case finding will allow us to extend services to the most vulnerable in our society. "

The new agreement will allow the NHS to collaborate with Gilead Sciences, Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD) and AbbVie, with the common goal of eliminating hepatitis C as a major public health problem in England, prior to the Purpose of the World Health Organization (WHO). from 2030.