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 The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said it
was "minded not to recommend" the drug, which is also known as
sofosbuvir. The decision poses a hurdle to its widespread adoption
in Britain.
“The available evidence shows that sofosbuvir is an effective
treatment for chronic hepatitis C in certain patients," said Carole
Longson, director of the NICE Centre for Health Technology
Evaluation.
"However, evidence is lacking for some subgroups of patients with
chronic hepatitis C, and there are also substantial uncertainties in
the evidence base presented by the manufacturer."
Sovaldi is far more effective and better-tolerated than older
treatments, but its high cost has provoked criticism from healthcare
campaigners and insurers.
The U.S. price for a 12-week course of treatment with Sovaldi is
$84,000, or $1,000 for each once-daily pill. The price in Britain
has been set lower at around 35,000 pounds ($58,800). ($1 = 0.5956
British Pounds)
[to top of second column] |
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler, editing by Louise Heavens)
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