| Hep C Retreatment Approved! |
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| Friday, 19 December 2008 | |
| Last Updated ( Friday, 19 December 2008 ) | |
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From 1 December 2008, PEGATRON will be reimbursed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for retreating chronic hepatitis C in those patients in whom interferon alfa based therapy has been unsuccessful. Excerpt from 1 December 2008 media release from Schering-Plough: Previous therapy includes a single course of interferon alfa (in a pegylated or non-pegylated form), either combined with ribavirin therapy or alone (as monotherapy). PEGATRON combination therapy is given as a 48-week standard course for retreating adult patients with chronic hepatitis C whose prior treatment did not reduce the amount of virus to undetectable levels and maintain this for 24 weeks after the course. Patients undergoing retreatment with PEGATRON are assessed at 12 weeks of therapy to see if their hepatitis C virus levels are undetectable. If this is the case they may continue for the full course of 48 weeks. The Australian approval and reimbursement of PEGATRON is based on a large international study which looked at how effective and safe this drug is when retreating patients with moderate-to-severe liver disease who had not successfully cleared the hepatitis C virus in previous treatment. The EPIC3 trial involved 1336 patients, including 171 patients at ten Australian study centres, treated with PEGATRON. It is important for patients who are considering retreatment to consult their hepatitis specialist to discuss whether a course of retreatment might be suitable for them and what their likelihood of success might be, based on their own condition and previous experience with treatment." Click here to download the full media release from Schering-Plough. Click here to download the PEGATRON Consumer Medicine Information. |
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