Hepatitis C Treatment: Sofosbuvir and Daclatasvir

Well I had another phone call from Western Union first thing this morning. Once again they apologized for the problems that having my transactions blocked has caused me (and many other people waiting for their medication). I was assured (again) that the problem would be fixed by Monday USA time (Tuesday Australian time) and that it would not occur again.

Well we will see? I sincerely hope that this time Western Union is able to keep its promises but based on my past experiences I will continue to use bank transfers until I am certain that there will no repeats of the debacle of the last 10 days, which I know has blown out delivery times for many people who are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their medication.

Suddenly I am getting a lot of emails from the USA. I had noted previously that I received comparatively few messages from the USA however I now understand the situation better. People who did not have covering health insurance were hoping, praying, that they would be eligible for Gilead’s low cost access program for people who could not afford to pay the $90,000 to $180,000 for a treatment.

It now appears that there has been a major tightening of this program and many people are learning that they are “not sick enough” to qualify. Below are two emails I received this morning, as examples of how people are feeling now that this last hope has been snatched away from them.

In this last week I have had a number of similar emails from the USA. To have had hope and then to have it snatched away is a cruel thing indeed!

While we are all waiting for generic Harvoni to be released in India I have also been also investigating the availability of generic daclatasvir. In particular I have been looking at the Chinese pharmaceutical company Mesochem because I know of a doctor here in Australia who has imported some of their generic daclatasvir and had it tested and was happy with the results. I also know of one of this doctor’s patients, who has genotype 3, who is treating himself with this daclatasvir and getting good results. I don’t know him personally but I know a good friend of his.

Also another doctor I know, a specialist, has ordered some of Mesochem’s daclatasvir and will have it tested soon. The results will be interesting!

However the problem is that Mesochem only supply in concentrated powder form (API). A three month treatment comes as just 6 grams of powder, which must then be divided into 84 exact doses in a form that can be stored and consumed safely. 

Here I reach a bridge I am not able to cross. I do not know how these doses could be safely made and I know nothing about converting API’s into consumable tablets.

That said, their price is very reasonable at about US$200 including delivery charges for enough daclatasvir for a three month treatment. It is just the issue of getting the dose right and in a safe form.

If anyone has any comments on this I would really like to hear from them. Please email me.

According to the EASL treatment summary the sofosbuvir and daclatasvir are an ideal treatment for genotype 3, reducing the treatment time to 12 weeks instead of 24 and removing the need for ribavirin and interferon. Though I note some practitioners still include the ribavirin in the treatment regime.

Beijing Mesochem Technology Co., Ltd. was founded in 2009 as an independent high-tech enterprises specializing in Pharmaceutical chemicals and fine chemicals, it aims to to adapt to the business development of Beijing Huafeng United Technology Co., Ltd established in 2005.

The company is located in “Pharma Valley”’- Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone(BDA), devotes to active pharmaceutical ingredient, intermediates and Pharmaceutical technology development services. It has independent R&D ability and right of import-export operations and has already established stable cooperation relationship with hundreds of pharmaceutical companies and research institutions both at home and abroad.

Feedback would be appreciated