A non-profit organisation called Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) in association with the Egyptian company Pharco Pharmaceuticals presented interim results of their STORM-C-1 trial at the International Liver Conference in Paris recently.

301 patients in Malaysia with chronic hepatitis C were treated with a ravidasvir/sofosbuvir combination for 12 weeks (or 24 weeks for patients with compensated cirrhosis). After 12 weeks, 97% of patients were cured, including the majority of those with co-morbidities such as cirrhosis and HIV.

Treatment is expected to cost USD 300 for 12 weeks which would make it feasible for governments to offer mass treatment programmes. At present, for example, the price of Gilead’s Harvoni (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir) would cost about USD 48 000 in Malaysia and about USD 12 000 in Chile.