Health insurance co-payment (co-pay) programs and patient drug assistance programs (PAPs) are critical services for thousands of U.S. residents with HIV and/or viral hepatitis who face out-of-pocket expenses associated with their treatment. The Fair Pricing Coalition (FPC) has negotiated co-pay…
Gilead’s greed gives rise to a slew of advocacy priorities By Tracy Swan Activists are decrying Gilead’s refusal to continue codeveloping a winning HCV drug combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), opting instead to focus on co-formulations of its own promising…
By Mark Harrington Now in its 20th year of publication, TAGline has long sought to inform its readers and TAG supporters of the myriad research and policy challenges we face as a community in the ongoing fight against HIV and…
April 2013 What predicts response to hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment? Many things help predict the likelihood of being cured (called sustained virological response or SVR) by pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin (RBV). Making sure to take all medications as…
February 14, 2013 – Today, on the occasion of Valentine's Day, Médecins du Monde and Treatment Action Group (TAG) are launching an action urging pharmaceutical giants Merck and Roche to drop their exorbitant prices for pegylated interferon, an effective hepatitis…
by Karyn Kaplan The current standard of care for HCV is pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin. Yet in most countries, this treatment is unaffordable to all but the wealthiest people. In order to stimulate price reductions and increase access, Médecins…
by Tracy Swan It is difficult not to be dazzled by cure rates of up to 100% from interferon-free hepatitis C virus (HCV) trials presented at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) meeting in November 2012.…
