9 September 2016 - Another ‘potential curative’ drug for people with chronic hepatitis C will be made available on the NHS.

New draft guidance published today from NICE recommends elbasvir-grazoprevir - one of the newer hepatitis C antiviral drugs that can offer patients more effective treatment.

In clinical trials, elbasvir-grazoprevir showed cure rates above 90% for people with genotypes 1 and 4. The cure rate is dependent on the genotype, treatment history and presence of liver damage.

Professor Carole Longson, director of the NICE centre for health technology evaluation, said: “Treating chronic hepatitis C had previously been a major challenge with patients having to experience long and unpleasant courses of treatment.

“Elbasvir-grazoprevir, like other newer direct acting anti-viral treatments, is a drug that provides considerable health benefits to patients without some of the adverse side effects associated with earlier anti-viral treatments, such as peginterferon alpha with ribavirin.”

A 12-week course of treatment with elbasvir-grazoprevir usually costs £36,500 per patient, but the NHS will pay less than this as the company has offered a confidential discount.

Taken once daily, the tablet could treat around 4,000 patients in the first year, alongside other options already available for hepatitis C.

Read NICE draft guidance