AbbVie’s Mavyret (glecaprevir/pibrentasvir) can now be administered to treatment-naïve, compensated cirrhotic, chronic hepatitis C (HCV) patients, across all genotypes, in eight weeks.
It becomes the first once-daily treatment to have this duration, after previous standard treatments had needed 12 weeks or more.
AbbVie’s immediate rivals in the space, Gilead, possess treatment with such schedules, including Epclusa (sofosbuvir/velpatasvir) and Harvoni (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir) – though Gilead launched ‘early’ generic versions of these treatments to compete on pricing.
According to clinical trials undertaken by AbbVie, Mavyret was able to manage a sustained virologic response 12 weeks after treatment in 98% of patients, when they were treated with an eight-week dosing schedule.
“With more than 2.3 million people in the US still living with chronic HCV, access to shorter-term, eight-week treatment options can help us move closer to achieving the WHO’s goal of eliminating HCV by 2030,” said Robert Brown, professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, on the approval.
In AbbVie’s second-quarter financials, the company posted that Mavyret had brought in $784m (€718m) in net revenue globally for the company.
AbbVie managed these sales despite an arrangement being made with the WHO for the distribution of Mavyret in low- and middle-income countries at a discount.
