Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday directed the State Health Department to examine the feasibility of a new drug — Epclusa — offered by US-based Gilead Sciences for treatment of Hepatitis-C patients in the State.
The Chief Minister has also directed the state Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh to assess the success rate of the new drug through minute evaluation of the outcome of trials conducted by All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Post-Graduate Institute oif Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) to enable the State Government to take a final decision on accepting the offer.
The directives followed a detailed presentation by Gilead Sciences’ Asia Pacific’s Government Affairs’ director Claudio lilienfeld during an interactive session at the Chief Minister’s official residence on Thursday.
lilienfeld informed the Chief Minister that the drug had proved to be very successful and effective in treating critical patients of Hepatitis-C across the world.
He further apprised Capt Amarinder that Epclusa drug had been successfully launched in the United States, where it had led to excellent results in curing even terminally ill Hepatitis-C patients.
Chief Minister, however, made it clear that any decision on signing a MoU with Gliead Sciences for supply of the drug in Punjab would be taken only after a detailed analysis by reputed national health and research institutions like AIIMS and PGIMER.
Meanwhile, the State Program Officer Dr Gagandeep Singh revealed that Hepatitis-C treatment was being provided in 22 districts hospitals and three medical colleges in the State, with the existing staff of medical specialists, lab technicians and pharmacists being leveraged for Hepatitis-C care delivery.
As a result of the rate contracts or negotiations led by the Government with pharmaceutical companies and diagnostic providers, patients in the programme have to shell out Rs 2,200 to Rs 5,200 depending on their condition, whereas in the private sector the patients have to incur a hefty cost of Rs 43,000 to Rs 72,000 for treatment spread over 12 weeks.
He also informed that till mid-July this year, 31,000 Hepatitis-C patients had been treated in the State with a success rate of 93 percent.