Drugs for Chronic Hepatitis C Infection

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Project Line:
Health Technology Review
Project Number:
TR0008-000

CADTH updated its previous Therapeutic Review examining the clinical and economic impact of new and existing drugs to treat chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infection.

For many years, standard therapy for CHC infection consisted of pegylated interferon plus ribavirin. In 2011, the first direct-acting antiviral agents were approved for use in Canada. While these new drugs are changing the landscape for the treatment of CHC infection in Canada, they are doing so at significant cost. By reviewing the evidence and developing recommendations and tools, CADTH is providing health care policy- and decision-makers with the up-to-date evidence-based resources they need to make informed decisions.

CADTH’s previous work includes a Therapeutic Review and a large number of other reports bundled together in our Summary of CADTH Resources.

Since the publication of CADTH’s first Therapeutic Review on therapies for CHC infection, new oral drugs continued to emerge, including interferon-free, and interferon- and ribavirin-free, regimens. Some of these regimens are or will be approved for only genotype 1 CHC infection, and others for multiple genotypes.

The original CADTH reports focused on regimens approved in Canada for the treatment of genotype 1 CHC infection at the time of writing. This meant that only treatment regimens with pegylated interferon plus ribavirin were included in these reports. The updated reports assessed all currently available treatments for CHC infection for multiple genotypes, and some emerging therapies, including interferon-free, and interferon- and ribavirin-free, regimens.

The project had two key components:

Patient Input

CADTH is piloting the inclusion of patient group input in its process for the Therapeutic Review of direct-acting antivirals for chronic hepatitis C infection.

The submitted patient group input identified health outcomes and issues of importance to patients, and their unmet needs in managing CHC infection. The patient input was systematically incorporated into this Therapeutic Review, beginning with informing the project protocol through to informing CDECin making its recommendation(s) based on this Therapeutic Review.

Here are links to the patient group input submitted for this project: