A Lifeline for Hepatitis C Patients
Hepatitis C (Hep C) kills more Americans than any other infectious disease, yet many people have a 95% chance of being cured in under 4 months with a daily pill. So why is it that even though there are nearly 5 million Americans living with the deadly disease, only about 600,000 have been treated with breakthrough treatments Vosevi and Harvoni from Gilead? Most Hep C patients are shut out of life-saving medicine because they can’t afford it.
Priced at more than $100,000 for a 12-week course of treatment, state Medicaid programs have limited access to Harvoni, Vosevi, and Epclusa to individuals with serious liver damage, e.g, advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis. Many insurance companies list the medicines as specialty drugs and cover only a percentage of the cost. And other patients have super high deductible plans that leave them unable to afford the out of pocket expense. Without timely treatment, Hep C can lead to liver cancer and/or require a liver transplant. In order to receive any insurance benefit towards curative treatment, Hep C patients are being forced to wait until their health worsens—often to an extremely dangerous point.
While Harvoni, Vosevi, and Epclusa remain out of reach for most Americans suffering from Hep C, outside of the U.S., the very same Gilead-branded drugs are available for as low as $54,000 for a 12-week course of treatment. These drugs are made by the same manufacturer and are often manufactured in the same place at the same time as the U.S. supply. In most cases these drugs are identical to those sold in U.S. pharmacies in every way except their labeling, packaging, and sometimes tablet appearance (e.g, shape or color). These drugs come from the United Kingdom, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Turkey, India, (and more), and they are legally manufactured, safe and effective.
The estimated 135 million global citizens outside of the U.S. with Hep C are able to obtain high-quality Vosevi, Harvoni, and Epclusa at about 50% of the U.S. cost without waiting until the disease has dramatically progressed or depleting their savings. We don’t think it’s right that the system in the U.S. forces people to become debilitated by the side effects of Hep C before they can be cured. That’s why we started PharmaVisa: to offer people a lifeline from the crushing weight of Big Pharma prices. If you or someone you know has Hepatitis C and has been shut out of essential treatment, contact us to find out how we can help.