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Alan Franciscus
Editor-in-Chief
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In This Issue:
• Chinese Hepatitis
B Carrier Wins Landmark Lawsuit Against Job Discrimination
• Maryland Hospital Will Notify Thousands
Who May Have Received Incorrect HIV Test Results
• Gene That Causes Cancer in Liver
• Massachusetts Official Backs Needle Exchange
Plan
• New MRI Liver Contrast Agent Primovist
Approved in Sweden
• Survival of Cirrhotic Patients with Hepatocellular
Carcinoma
• Two Generic Hepatitis C Drugs Win U.S.
Approval
• Priority Healthcare Corporation Announces
Availability of Generic Ribavirin Hepatitis C Treatment
• Hepatitis May Lurk Unknown in Former
Patients
• Schering-Plough Says Launches Generic
Version Of Hepatitis C Treatment
• Ivpcare Introduces Formulary Management
For Hepatitis C Treatment
• Israeli Drug Developer XTLbio Gets Hepatitis
Patent
April 3rd, 2004
Chinese Hepatitis B Carrier Wins Landmark
Lawsuit Against Job Discrimination
Source: Agence France Presse
Last Friday in Wuhu city in Anhui province,
a district court handed a landmark victory to a non-infectious
hepatitis B (HBV) carrier in a job discrimination lawsuit.
The decision gives HBV patients a boost in their fight for
equal work opportunities. Zhang Xianzhu had sued the Wuhu
government's personnel affairs bureau after he was rejected
for employment because he has HBV, according to the China
Daily.
The lawsuit is a first in China, where
people with HBV are barred from government jobs by many local
administrations, despite the fact that the virus is not spread
through casual contact. The court ruled that the Wuhu government
had violated provincial guidelines because Zhang did not belong
to the seven hepatitis groups prohibited from public service
work by Anhui's health standards. The court ordered authorities
to withdraw their decision denying Zhang's application; the
government plans to appeal.
China has no national laws barring people
with HBV from public service, but this is nevertheless the
practice of many local and central government departments.
As the number of appeals grows, however, some local governments
are changing their policies. Central Hunan province lifted
its ban last month. China has some 120 million chronic HBV
patients - equivalent to about 10 percent of the population.
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Maryland
Hospital Will Notify Thousands Who May Have Received Incorrect
HIV Test Results
Source: Associated Press
BALTIMORE (AP) - Maryland General Hospital
said it will notify more than 2,100 patients whose HIV or
hepatitis C test results could be incorrect, and urge them
to be retested.
About 460 people were identified as receiving
questionable test results during a 14-month period ending
last August. The hospital has retested many of those patients
and is still trying to contact about 180.
But the hospital said in a news release
late Friday that as a result of a survey conducted by the
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations,
it will try to notify every person who received an HIV or
hepatitis test performed with suspect equipment from June
2002 to August 2003.
"In the coming week, Maryland General
will send approximately 2,169 letters to patients that had
a test performed on the equipment and advise them to be retested,"
the news release said.
Hospital officials could not be reached
for comment late Friday.
A state inspection report found that lab
workers manipulated and eliminated machine readings showing
that recently completed blood tests might be inaccurate and
should be discarded.
The news release said the commission surveyed
the hospital last month after complaints about the tests conducted
at the hospital lab.
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April 4th, 2004
Gene That
Causes Cancer in Liver
UIC Researchers Discover Gene that Causes Liver Cancer in
Animals
Source: HealthNewsDigest.com
Researchers at the University of Illinois
at Chicago have discovered a gene that spurs the growth of
liver cancer.
When the gene, called Foxm1b, was deleted
from liver cells in laboratory mice, the animals failed to
develop tumors. Even when the researchers attempted to induce
the formation of these tumors artificially, using a standard
laboratory technique, the mice remained cancer free.
"To my knowledge, this is the first
time a gene has been directly linked to the growth of cancer
cells in live animals," said Robert Costa, professor
of biochemistry and molecular genetics in the UIC College
of Medicine and the lead investigator in the study.
Results of the study are published in today's
issue of Genes and Development, the premier peer-reviewed
journal on molecular genetics and biology.
Earlier studies had shown that Foxm1b is
crucial for tissues to repair and replenish themselves - a
finding that led Costa to dub it the "fountain-of-youth
gene." When it is absent, the genetic instructions inside
a cell, called DNA, don't duplicate and cells have trouble
dividing.
Foxm1b, which is stimulated by growth hormone,
appears to malfunction in old age and in certain rare diseases
that cause premature aging. It is one of a family of genes
that controls the entire life cycle of a cell, including its
proliferation, maturation and death.
In the current study, scientists in Costa's
lab used genetically altered mice to establish the link between
Foxm1b and liver cancer, showing that the gene is essential
for the cancerous cells to multiply.
"Foxm1b is expressed in many different
kinds of cancer cells, which leads us to believe it plays
a key role in promoting the growth of tumors other than liver
cancer," Costa said.
The scientists also created a prototype
for a drug that would block Foxm1b activity and starve tumor
cells of the protein that Foxm1b manufactures, preventing
their multiplication.
The potential drug was a variant of a protein
known to suppress tumors, called p19ARF. By attaching a string
of arginines, a component of proteins, to a segment of p19ARF
that was shown to inhibit Foxm1b, the scientists enabled the
tumor suppressor to cross the cell membrane and enter the
body of the cancer cells.
"The 'drug' reduced not only the activity
of Fox m1b but also the growth of cancer cell colonies,"
Costa said. "We're extremely excited about this finding
because it suggests we might have a therapy for stemming the
spread of liver cancer."
Costa, who has made a career of studying
the Fox family of genes, has long puzzled over why Foxm1b
is not active in old age. When the gene is out of commission,
tissues can't regenerate, muscles atrophy, and bones thin.
For an organism subject to rules of natural selection, the
suppression of Fox m1b seemed odd.
With the current findings, however, Costa
wonders whether the human body has evolved to curb Foxm1b
in old age in an attempt to thwart cancer.
"I know it's speculative," Costa
said, "but perhaps aging is just an unintended by-product
of an adaptive mechanism to stave off cancer and certain death.
Perhaps aging is just nature's way of attacking cancer."
Other UIC researchers involved in the experiments
were Vladimir Kalinichenko, Michael Major, Xinhe Wang, Vladimir
Petrovic, Joseph Kuechle, Helena Yoder, Margaret Dennewitz,
Brain Shin, Abhishek Datta and Pradip Raychaudhuri.
The study was funded by the National Institute
on Aging and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive
and Kidney Diseases.
For more information about the UIC College
of Medicine, visit www.uic.edu/depts/mcam/
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April 5th, 2004
Massachusetts
Official Backs Needle Exchange Plan
Source: Associated Press
SPRINGFIELD, Mass.-- A city councilor whose
vote helped defeat a city needle exchange program six years
ago now says he backs the proposal and will reintroduce it
to the council.
City Councilor Bud L. Williams had initially
supported a needle exchange in 1998. But after a referendum
showed voter opposition to the plan, he changed his mind,
resulting in a 5-4 vote to defeat the proposal.
Now, Williams said he has changed his mind
again, and will reintroduce the plan to the city council.
"I am not supporting drug use, I want
to make that clear, but I just feel we have to exhaust all
possibilities," he told The Republican newspaper of Springfield.
"If you can save one person, it's worth it. I've said
it many times."
The City Council Committee on Civil Rights
and Race Relations, which Williams chairs, planned to discuss
needle exchanges on Monday at City Hall.
Needle exchanges provide clean syringes
to addicts who inject drugs intravenously. Advocates say distributing
clean needles helps prevent the spread of AIDS. Opponents
say it encourages illegal drug use.
In Massachusetts, it is illegal to have
a hypodermic needle or syringe without a prescription. The
Legislature amended that law in 1993 to allow pilot needle
exchange programs in Boston, Cambridge, Northampton and Provincetown.
Helen R. Caulton-Harris, director of Springfield's
Health and Human Services Department, said needle exchanges
can help fight AIDS.
"Needle exchange should be administered
as a part of a comprehensive opportunity to educate,"
she said. "We shouldn't see needle exchange by itself
as a panacea to solve the HIV problem in the city of Springfield."
Six people in every 1,000 in Springfield
were infected with HIV or AIDS as of January. That's up slightly
from 5.5 per 1,000 in July 1992, she said. Of those, 44 percent
reported injecting drugs, Caulton-Harris said.
Mayor Charles V. Ryan said he opposes such
programs because they run counter to drug prevention efforts
and because of potential liability for the city.
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New
MRI Liver Contrast Agent Primovist Approved in Sweden
Source: PRNewswire
BERLIN--Schering AG Group, Germany (FSE:
SCH, NYSE: SHR) announced today that the Swedish health authority
MPA has granted marketing approval for its innovative liver
imaging product Primovist (gadoxetic acid disodium). Primovist(TM)
is designed for the detection and characterization of liver
lesions by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including liver
tumors, metastases as well as other malignant and benign lesions.
Based on the Swedish registration Schering will start a mutual
recognition procedure for the European Union with Sweden acting
as reference member state. EU registration is expected in
most countries within 2004.
"Primovist(TM) is a new gadolinium based contrast medium
that offers the possibility to simultaneously detect, locate
and distinguish various types of liver lesions, thus providing
a powerful tool for radiologists that increases the diagnostic
confidence", said Michael Rook, Head of Diagnostics &
Radioparmaceuticals at Schering AG. "Furthermore, an
examination with Primovist(TM) - requiring only one single
contrast media injection - improves patient convenience and
may have a positive impact on healthcare costs. By adding
Primovist(TM) to our imaging portfolio, Schering further strengthens
its position as true innovator and as the world's leading
company in the field of MRI contrast media."
The clinical development of Primovist(TM)
has taken place globally and has proven distinct diagnostic
efficacy and an excellent safety profile. Submission for approval
in Japan and other Asian countries, where liver examinations
are particularly frequent, is planned within this year.
Additional information
Primovist(TM) is chemically related to Schering's Magnevist(r)
(Gd-DTPA) which has been the world's leading MRI contrast
agent for more than 15 years. Like Magnevist(r) it brightens
the signal of T1-weighted MR images.
Owing to its structural properties, Primovist(TM)
is specifically taken up by liver cells (hepatocytes), thus
enhancing healthy liver tissue (parenchymal enhancement).
Lesions with no or minimal hepatocyte function (cysts, metastases,
the majority of hepatocellular carcinomas) will remain unenhanced
and will therefore be more readily detected and localized.
Primovist(TM) furthermore provides useful diagnostic information
at the time immediately after contrast administration (dynamic
imaging) and thus also supports lesion characterization (i.e.,
distinction of different types of liver lesions).
Schering AG is a research-based pharmaceutical
company. Its activities are focused on four business areas:
Gynecology&Andrology, Diagnostics&Radiopharmaceuticals,
Dermatology as well as Specialized Therapeutics for disabling
diseases in the fields of the central nervous system, oncology
and cardiovascular system. As a global player with innovative
products Schering AG aims for leading positions in specialized
markets worldwide. With in-house R&D and supported by
an excellent global network of external partners, Schering
AG is securing a promising product pipeline. Using new ideas,
Schering AG aims to make a recognized contribution to medical
progress and strives to improve the quality of life: making
medicine work
This press release has been published by
Corporate Communication of Schering AG, Berlin, Germany.
Your contacts:
Business: Dr Friedrich von Heyl, T: +49-30-468-152-96; friedrich.vonheyl@schering.de.
Investor Relations: Peter Vogt, T: +49-30-468-128-38, peter.vogt@schering.de.
Pharma: Dr Claudia Schmitt, T: +49-30-468-158-05, claudia.schmitt@schering.de.
Your contacts in the US:
Media Relations: Kimberley Jordan, T:+1-973-487-2592, kimberley_jordan@berlex.com.
Investor Relations: Joanne Marion, T: +1-973-487-2164, joanne_marion@berlex.com.
Find additional information at: www.schering.de/eng
Certain statements in this press release
that are neither reported financial results nor other historical
information are forward-looking statements, including but
not limited to, statements that are predictions of or indicate
future events, trends, plans or objectives. Undue reliance
should not be placed on such statements because, by their
nature, they are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties
and can be affected by other factors that could cause actual
results and Schering AG's plans and objectives to differ materially
from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.
Certain factors that may cause such differences are discussed
in our Form 20-F and Form 6-K reports filed with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission. Schering AG undertakes
no obligation to update publicly or revise any of these forward-looking
statements, whether to reflect new information or future events
or circumstances or otherwise.
CONTACT: Business:
Dr Friedrich von Heyl, tel +49-30-468-152-96; peter.vogt@schering.de,
Pharma: Dr Claudia Schmitt, tel +49-30-468-158-05,
joanne_marion@berlex.com.
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Survival
of Cirrhotic Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Source: www.gastrohep.com
Cirrhotic patients who developed hepatocellular
carcinoma during the last 5 years of surveillance survived
the longest, find investigators in the latest issue of Gastroenterology
There have been significant improvements
in management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in recent
years.
To assess its impact, investigators from
Italy compared the survival of HCC patients identified along
3 consecutive quinquennia of surveillance.
The team followed a cohort of 417 HCC-free
outpatients with compensated cirrhosis for an average of 148
months with periodic ultrasound examinations.
The team found that HCC developed in 112
patients. This occurred at a rate of 3% per year, and was
the main cause of patient death.
The investigators found that 41% of patients
had a single tumor, with a mean size of 3.7 cm, 3 cm, and
2.2 cm in the 3 quinquennia.
Overall, 44% of patients underwent radical
therapy.
The team found that mortality rates in
HCC patients fell from 45% in the first quinquennium to 37%
in the second and 10% in the third.
This reduction occurred in parallel with
a reduction in yearly mortality of treated patients (34%,
28%, and 5%, respectively). The team determined that tumor
staging, according to Cancer of the Liver Italian Program
(CLIP), was the only independent predictor of survival.
Dr Angelo Sangiovanni's team concluded,
"Cirrhotic patients developing a HCC during the last
5 years of surveillance survived longer than previously."
This is due to, "Improved management
of the tumor and complications of cirrhosis".
Gastroenterol 2004; 126(4):
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April 7th, 2004
Two Generic
Hepatitis C Drugs Win U.S. Approval
Source: Reuters
NEW YORK--- Two drugmakers on Wednesday
said they had won U.S. approval to sell their generic forms
of ribavirin, a mainstay treatment for hepatitis C sold by
Schering-Plough Corp. and Roche Holding AG.
Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG and Three Rivers
Pharmaceuticals LLC, a privately held generic drug manufacturing
company based north of Pittsburgh, said their copycats will
be launched immediately.
Novartis and Three Rivers, which has given
Pharmaceutical Resources Inc. rights to market its product,
are the only companies that will be allowed to sell generic
ribavirin in the United States for the next 180 days.
Approvals of the two generics had been
widely expected and their arrival could drive down the cost
of treating hepatitis C, a virus believed to infect as many
as 4 million Americans which is the biggest cause of liver
transplants.
All forms of ribavirin are approved for
use with interferon, an injectable medicine also sold by both
Schering-Plough and Roche that stimulates the immune system
to fight the virus.
Schering-Plough had a U.S. monopoly on
its dual therapy until Roche introduced its rival combination
treatment in early 2003. The Roche combination therapy now
boasts the dominant market share, in part because its brand
of ribavirin costs about 40 percent less than Schering-Plough's.
Neither Novartis nor Three Rivers disclosed
what they will charge for their generics, but industry analysts
expect them to reflect a significant discount from Roche's
price of up to $800 per month.
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Priority
Healthcare Corporation Announces Availability of Generic Ribavirin
Hepatitis C Treatment
Source: PRNewswire
LAKE MARY, Fla.-- Priority Healthcare Corporation
(Nasdaq: PHCC) announced that generic ribavirin, approved
yesterday by the FDA for the treatment of hepatitis C, will
be available from the company's specialty pharmacy operation
today.
"Ribavirin, used in combination with interferon, is the
leading treatment for hepatitis C. It is our hope that the
launch of generic ribavirin will result in increased awareness
and treatment options for the 4 million Americans who suffer
from this disease. As the market leader in this disease area,
we are very pleased that patients can obtain ribavirin combined
with our customized care services," said Kim Rondeau,
Executive Vice President, Pharmacy Sales & Marketing for
Priority Healthcare.
Priority Healthcare offers a supportive
disease treatment management program for hepatitis C patients
that includes:
• One-on-one nurse counseling and
educational information at the initiation of treatment
• Caring Paths(TM) disease treatment management process,
specific to hepatitis
• Access to pharmacists and nurses 24 hours a day/7
days a week to answer patient question
• Monthly check-ins with patient care coordinators who
follow up with physicians as needed
• Ongoing educational disease information, support networks,
chats with disease specialists, and research and treatment
updates available as a free community resource at Priority
Healthcare's Hepatitis Neighborhood at
http://www.hepatitisneighborhood.com
About Hepatitis C
According to the National Institutes of Health, hepatitis
C virus (HCV) is one of the most important causes of chronic
liver disease in the United States and is the leading indication
for liver transplants. Since 80% of hepatitis C patients have
no signs or symptoms, it is important to increase awareness
and education of the disease.
Hepatitis C affects 4 million Americans,
or 1.8% of the population, and causes an estimated 10,000-12,000
deaths annually in the United States. Hepatitis is transmitted
by blood and blood products. People most at risk are those
who have had blood transfusions before 1992, injection drug
users, infants born to HCV-infected mothers, healthcare workers
who suffer needle sticks, and people exposed to blood products,
including patients with hemophilia, solid-organ transplants,
chronic renal failure, or cancer requiring chemotherapy. Currently,
the optimal treatment appears to be a 24- or 48-week course
of combination pegylated alpha interferon and ribavirin. (The
information on hepatitis C is from the National Institutes
of Health available online at http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases
/pubs/chronicchepc/index.htm)
About Ribavirin
Ribavirin is an anti-viral drug known as a nucleoside analogue.
Ribavirin disrupts viral RNA and DNA synthesis, which slows
down or stops the virus from replicating. Ribavirin is prescribed
in combination with interferon for hepatitis C. It is not
effective or approved as a monotherapy against HCV. For people
who have medical conditions that would not allow the use of
ribavirin, such as heart disease and anemia, interferon medication
may be used alone (monotherapy). Patients should talk with
their physician to learn more about ribavirin and interferon
therapies.
About Priority Healthcare Corporation
Priority Healthcare Corporation is a national specialty pharmacy
and distributor that provides biopharmaceuticals, complex
therapies, and related disease treatment services. Priority
Healthcare provides comprehensive programs for patients, payors,
physicians, and pharmaceutical manufacturers for a growing
number of disease states including cancer, hepatitis C, respiratory
and pulmonary conditions, infertility, rheumatoid arthritis,
hemophilia, multiple sclerosis, and macular degeneration.
Additional information regarding Priority Healthcare is available
online at http://www.priorityhealthcare.com
Certain statements included in this press
release, which are not historical facts, are forward-looking
statements. Such forward-looking statements are made pursuant
to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements represent
our expectations or beliefs and involve certain risks and
uncertainties, including those described in our public filings
with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission;
also including, but not limited to, changes in interest rates,
competitive pressures, changes in customer mix, changes in
third party reimbursement rates, financial stability of major
customers, changes in government regulations or the interpretation
of these regulations, changes in supplier relationships, growth
opportunities, cost savings, revenue enhancements, synergies
and other benefits anticipated from acquisition transactions,
difficulties relative to integrating acquired businesses,
the accounting and tax treatment of acquisitions, and asserted
and unasserted claims, which could cause actual results to
differ from those in the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking
statements by their nature involve substantial risks and uncertainties,
certain of which are beyond our control, and actual results
may differ materially depending on a variety of important
factors. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the
date herein.
SOURCE: Priority Healthcare Corporation
Web Site: http://www.priorityhealthcare.com
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Hepatitis
May Lurk Unknown in Former Patients
Gerard Ryle
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Thousands of Australians may be unknowingly infected with
hepatitis C (HCV) because the system designed to trace those
potentially infected did not work, a Senate inquiry was told.
"I have been horrified by the number of mothers who have
acquired hepatitis C from contaminated blood... this is a
medical emergency," Charles MacKenzie, of the Tainted
Blood Product Action Group, told the Senate hearing Tuesday.
"The Australian Red Cross and the relevant health departments
have neglected to adequately warn the public. Letters have
not been sent to all those who have received blood transfusions
in the high-risk blood transfusion years prior to 1990."
MacKenzie called on the government to rectify the situation
and inform the public.
MacKenzie said the Red Cross blood service's
failure to introduce an early screening test for HCV in the
mid-1980s accelerated the danger. Blood was taken from prisoners
for almost 12 years after other countries ceased the practice,
deeming it too risky due to prisoners' high use of illegal
drugs. The ALT test claimed to reduce the incidence of HCV
infection by up to half and was used in the United States
four years before any screening was implemented in Australia
in 1990.
"In the last three decades thousands
of Australian hospital patients have been infected with the
deadly virus hepatitis C from contaminated blood transfusions
and blood products," said MacKenzie. "While this
is a medical disaster it is in essence first and foremost
a human tragedy that has destroyed the lives of many women
and children."
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April 8th, 2004
Schering-Plough
Says Launches Generic Version Of Hepatitis C Medicine
Source: Reuters
NEW YORK- Schering-Plough Corp said on
Thursday it has launched a generic version of its hepatitis
C medicine ribavirin, just a day after rival drugmakers won
U.S. approval to market their own copycat version.
Schering-Plough, which charges wholesalers
$12,000 per year for the branded version of the hepatitis
C drug, said it will market the generic version at a comparable
price to other versions hitting the market.
U.S. regulators on Wednesday agreed to
allow Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG and Three Rivers Pharmaceuticals
LLC, a privately held generic drug manufacturing company based
north of Pittsburgh, to launch their copycat versions of the
drug immediately. Three Rivers has given Pharmaceutical Resources
Inc. rights to market its product.
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Ivpcare
Introduces Formulary Management For Hepatitis C Treatment
Source: PR Newswire
FRISCO, Texas- ivpcare announces the creation
and launch of a new formulary management program for Hepatitis
C. This program has been completed with the availability of
generic ribavirin, approved April 6, 2004 by the FDA for the
treatment of Hepatitis C.
This new Formulary Management program will
be offered in addition to the already established CAP (Compliance,
Adherence and Persistence) and DUW (Drug Utilization and Waste
Management) programs offered by ivpcare. "ivpcare's specialty
pharmacy services are best positioned to implement a program
of this nature. Since the treatment for this disease includes
pegylated interferon, marketed by two different brands and
ribavirin, which now is offered as a generic drug, the opportunity
for formulary management is key for payors nationwide. ivpcare
now offers Therapeutic Interchange and Generic Substitution
programs, which will result in great savings for payors managing
this complex disease state," said Von Best, President
and CEO, for ivpcare.
Ivpcare also offers a comprehensive Drug Therapy Management
program for Hepatitis C patients that includes:
• Patient Counseling and Educational information at
the initiation of treatment
• Clinical Management process, including Genotype driven
protocols
• Prior Authorization process
• Insurance and Benefits clearing house
• Toll free Patient Access to pharmacists and nurses
24 hours a day/7 days a week
• Regular calls to patients from DTM Coordinators
• Coordination with physicians and nursing staff as
needed
• On-line Refill Processing and Private Chats with pharmacists
and DTM coordinators through our award winning web site at
www.ivpcare.com
About Hepatitis C
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the most important causes
of chronic liver disease in the United States. It accounts
for about 15 percent of acute viral Hepatitis, 60 to 70 percent
of chronic Hepatitis, and up to 50 percent of cirrhosis, end-
stage liver disease, and liver cancer. Almost 4 million Americans,
or 1.8 percent of the U.S. population, have antibody to HCV
(anti-HCV), indicating ongoing or previous infection with
the virus. Hepatitis C causes an estimated 10,000 to 12,000
deaths annually in the United States. The therapy for chronic
hepatitis C has evolved steadily since alpha interferon was
first approved for use in this disease more than 10 years
ago. At the present time, the optimal regimen appears to be
a 24 or 48 week course of the combination of pegylated alpha
interferon and ribavirin.
About Ribavirin
According to Medscape, oral ribavirin is used in conjunction
with interferon alfa-2b, peginterferon alfa-2a, or peginterferon
alfa-2b for the treatment of chronic Hepatitis C virus (HCV)
infection in patients with compensated liver disease who are
treatment-naive (have not previously received interferon alfa
therapy). Although therapy with oral ribavirin alone is not
effective for the treatment of chronic HCV infection, use
of the drug in conjunction with an interferon alfa preparation
has been shown to increase the rate of sustained response
(i.e., absence of detectable HCV RNA in the serum as shown
by a qualitative HCV RNA assay with lower limit of detection
of 50 IU/mL or less at 24 weeks after the end of antiviral
therapy) by 2 to 3 fold and decrease the rate of relapse following
discontinuance of therapy. The highest rates of sustained
virologic response and the lowest rates of relapse have been
achieved with concomitant use of peginterferon alfa and oral
ribavirin. Consequently, concomitant therapy with a pegylated
interferon alfa preparation and oral ribavirin currently is
the regimen of choice for initial treatment of chronic HCV
infection in treatment-naive patients and also is recommended
for patients who fail to achieve sustained virologic response
(i.e., nonresponders) following nonconjugated interferon alfa
monotherapy or concomitant therapy with nonconjugated interferon
alfa and oral ribavirin.
About ivpcare
Ivpcare is a leading national specialty pharmacy offering
clinical services and distribution of pharmaceuticals developed
for chronic therapeutic indications to patients and physicians.
ivpcare provides comprehensive programs for patients, payors,
physicians, and pharmaceutical manufacturers for a growing
number of disease states including Hepatitis C, Infertility,
Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Crohn's disease
and others. Additional information regarding ivpcare is available
online at www.ivpcare.com.
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Israeli
Drug Developer XTLbio Gets Hepatitis Patent
Source: Reuters
LONDON-- A patent covering antibodies against
the hepatitis C virus has been licensed to Israeli drug developer
XTL Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (XTL.L: Quote, Profile, Research),
the London-listed firm said on Thursday.
XTLbio said the U.S. patent, licensed from
Stanford University, included an antibody that could potentially
enhance two of its experimental drugs to treat hepatitis,
including a candidate against hepatitis C. The World Health
Organisation estimates around 170 million people worldwide
are chronic carriers of the hepatitis C virus and three to
four million people are newly infected each year.
About a quarter of chronic patients will
develop progressive liver disease such as cirrhosis and liver
cancer.
Existing treatments are limited by severe
side-effects such as anaemia and depression, and so treatment
of chronic hepatitis C is still considered an unmet need.
Worldwide sales for all products treating the disease are
estimated to reach $4 billion in 2004, XTLbio said.
Shares in XTLbio rose 1.67 percent
in early trade to 30-1/2 pence, their highest level in 18
months and valuing the Rehovot, central Israel-based firm
at 34 million pounds ($62.8 million).
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