Harvoni vs Incivek

[DeeCoo]

Sounds like nobody is taking Incivek anymore?  Does this have anything to do with side affects, price, or availability?  Or something else? Please tell me because i did the incivek and went through hell but it worked.

[Dee1956]

Hi I remember now, Express Scripts had announced last summer it was no longer going to cover it and then Vertex said they would pull it from US.  This thread came out when it was first announced

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/Incivek-to-end-sells/show/2267816

[Dee1956]

Hi it was removed from the US market but is still being sold in other markets.
I looked up the reasoning and Vertex said that once the easier drugs came along their saies fell so they decided to stop making it.

I also read, before that, that insurance companies were no longer going to cover it so it was a good idea on their part.

[Carlhcv]

Interesting link. Thanks for posting it. I bookmarked it. I guess Incivek had horrible side effects in some people that could even be fatal (skin rash). And the Interferon. Wow, that stuff was very nasty for me. Poison! Both of them! Harvoni is a powerful drug, I can tell that in a way that I can't describe but I think even 24 weeks will be easy for me to tolerate. Hats off to everyone who endured an interferon based tx. I had to stop at 26 weeks and I was a complete basket case by then. I took Victelis, Ribavirin & Alpha Peg-interferon. Good riddance to those drugs.

[hepcandme]

Incivek was taken off the market because the new drugs made by other pharms like Gilead were more effective with fewer side effects

http://www.fiercepharma.com/tags/incivek