Please Help Me Determine Best Tx Plan.

[Carlhcv]

Hello old friends and new. I haven't been on here in awhile. I have Hep C, 1a. I could not afford health insurance and the affordable health care act ended the compassionate care programs from the drug companies. Now my financial situation has improved due to an inheritance. The insurance exchange is supposed to reopen next month. I will purchase one of the premium plans that is approving the new drugs. My Drs. office recommends Blue Care Network. My Dr. calls me a prior "partial responder" since my viral load went to barely detectable but rebounded after 24 weeks of Ribavirin/PegInterferon/Victrellis. Now comes the part that I need help with. My Dr. wants to treat me with 24 weeks of Sovaldi/PegInterferon/Ribavirin. He says that Olysio is worthless. I thought that Olysio/Sovaldi would be the best drug combination for me. What combo is working best? What would be best for me? Should I find a new doctor. Please, I need to move on this as fast as possible and lose this virus. Also, what insurance companies are approving the new drugs. Thank you so much in advance.

[Willy50]

For genotype 1A Harvoni will provide equal SVR rates, but without RBV, but yes, the cure rates with either regimen will be very good; far batter than an interferon based combo

[flyinlynn]

I think the Abbvie 3D as I read it is called will include the use of Ribavirin which could be problematic for those of us with lowered platelet counts and cirrhosis.

[hrsepwrguy]

"They have a Harvoni like pill with the same ingredients I was told by AbbVie Pharmacist."

As Longman sees it, AbbVie should contemplate a $76,000 price tag – or a 20% discount – for the simple reason that its own hepatitis C treatment, which is expected to win FDA approval shortly, is not as convenient. The treatment requires taking more pills more frequently, including Norvir, another AbbVie drug that can also cause interactions with other medicines.

For this reason, Longman says the AbbVie triple combination treatment scores poorly on a proprietary ranking system when compared with Harvoni – 14.6 versus 18.3 – based on safety and use. Overall, he says the drugs scored comparably – Harvoni registered 39  versus 37.2 for the AbbVie treatment – only because their efficacy rankings were fairly similar.

http://blogs.wsj.com/pharmalot/2014/10/14/if-abbvie-discounts-its-hep-c-drug-would-pricing-reach-a-tipping-point/?mod=yahoo_hs

[keepingOnkeepingOn]

I'm 1a and on S/O. I've reached UD. Yeah S/O! EZ PZ as I'm coming down the home stretch of a 12 week run. Who said that Olysio was no good? That's an opinion. Ask those being cured by the S/O combo if it's no good. Your doc is outdated.
As for what Ins Co to choose, I'd call around locally and see if they give out lots of approvals (or denials) for treatment and ask about their Ins plans. That'll take research. It may be state based.

Harvoni may be your way to go as was mentioned. By the time you get all set up with Ins and new docs with new labs you'll be ready to treat. I'm hearing Jan 1 is the big day for AbbVie. They have a Harvoni like pill with the same ingredients I was told by AbbVie Pharmacist. The price will drop when they step in to become competition to Gilead et al. So Glad you can treat again. Take it one step at a time and you'll be ok.

[hrsepwrguy]

"Is it too new to know what cure rates they are seeing with it?"

Study ION - 2:
Response Rates after 12 and 24 Weeks of Treatment in Subjects with Genotype 1 CHC with or without Cirrhosis who Failed Prior Therapy

HARVONI 12 Weeks (N=109)

SVR 94% (102/109)

HARVONI 24 Weeks (N=109)

SVR 99% (108/109)

http://www.gilead.com/~/media/Files/pdfs/medicines/liver-disease/harvoni/harvoni_pi.pdf

[Carlhcv]

Thank you so much. I am soaking this up. This gastroenterologist has been seeing me at discounted rates but has shown lack of knowledge in the past and he did make mistakes in my prior tx. When I get insurance I can find another Dr.
This Harvoni sounds like my best bet. Enough members here whom I trust have verified that I shouldn't do interferon and that is what I thought also so no interferon.
Harvoni is Sovaldi and Ledipasvir and sounds like the drug for me. Is it too new to know what cure rates they are seeing with it?
Don't worry, great news that you beat hcv! I will look into Hep C.com.
I do not know if I have cirrhosis or fibrosis. I don't have any symptoms.
That leaves the question of insurance companies as I'm told that some are denying coverage for these new drugs.
I will be first in line when the health insurance exchange goes back up. I will have the $ to buy a good plan.