New treatments for hepatitis C virus: Strategies for achieving universal access

185 million people across the world are infected with HCV; 150 million are chronically infected. New treatments recently approved or soon to be authorized will offer a range of advantages compared with their predecessors: multigenotypic activity, fewer side effects, and higher cure rates, including for those in advanced stages of infection.

Although these new molecules will improve the quality of life of people with HCV and increase the number of people cured, their price will be out of reach of most of the people who need it. Gilead, like the other firms, is planning to apply different marketing strategies: “standard prices” in HICs, “tiered pricing” in MICs, and voluntary licencing in LICs.

This analysis, using epidemiological data specific to HCV, tries to determine whether the strategies employed by pharmaceutical companies would be good for access.

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