Hep C Discussion Forum

I have been involved in some Facebook groups for some time now, one of which is run by the man in Australia who has basically made it his life's mission to get people generic meds for cheap.  He's been nominated for person of the year or something (I'm obviously not Australian).  He's getting generics from India to people in all different countries, entire treatments for just a couple hundred dollars.  At first I wasn't sure how I felt about it but watching these people come back undetected one after another is pleasing! Many of them talk about how their doctor's were hesitant at first but agreed to monitor their care on the generics. It's sad that so many people have to turn to a man clear across the globe to get them the meds that will cure them.  I'm still torn on the topic overall as while plenty of people do seem educated on the matter and as though they've done their research, there are equally as many that seem to have been diagnosed within the last few months, seem very uneducated about the disease and the meds and are taking it upon themselves to buy DAA's and import them. 

Tanner - we've never met, I'm like an obnoxious brood of cicadas that disappears and then reappears and then well you know....  Anyway - I read your saga on Acreedo/Express Scripts and i had flashbacks. They are the worst. Some people here can vouch for the battles I had with them to get my last month of meds. They decided to screw up just about the time my riba-rage was in full swing. I spent hours on the phone with those idiots. Finally my treatment team came to the rescue, no idea how they did it but they got my last month of meds filled at a local specialty pharmacy and sent them to me by courier just in time. Then Acreedo kept calling me for like 3 months asking if I was ready for my refills (after I was done). In hindsight, I should've taken them, sold them on the black market and gone on vacation. Oh well, we live and we learn.

Nice to see the cost of Epclusa coming down finally in the US with a generic but I think you can be sure Vosevi will still stay at $78,000 for three months. You have always been able to import generic Epclusa from India for about $1000 for three months but Gilead does not license generic Vosevi to other countries yet. They will make as much profit from Vosevi for as long as they can get away with it.

Deep breath everybody.  Tanner is going to be "on treatment" in no time.  Look at her go!

I’ve got a call into my pharmacist to find out if the generic version is available in the US yet. Everything I’ve read so far, says it was going to be released in January. Could be they’re still working out the final details. The pricing I’m seeing drops the per pill price down to $250.00 from $1000, approximately. That’s huge, but they’ll be trying to unload their higher priced brand model first. The insurance companies that made deals with the manufacturers for lower priced brand name drugs, will have to restructure their deals with Big Pharm, so they don’t lose their shirt. 

In the meantime, I want you to seek the input of this organization. They are very helpful and may be able to assist you with that copay.

Healthwell Foundation

I haven’t checked with my pharmacy insiders, but this is supposed to be rolled out already. Here’s an article that offers a little more information. Gilead resisted the call for a US authorized generic, but the competition was (is) fierce, between Abbvie and Merck, before Merck dropped out. There are still overseas generic options at a greater reduction in price, but that only applies to patients that pay out of pocket for the entire course of care. It also involves dealing with overseas pharmacies and providers, and customs officials. This will make access to the blockbuster drugs much more affordable. The deductible and copay costs will drop accordingly. I’ll be looking for more information regarding the roll out. 

“Beginning in January 2019, a new subsidiary, Asegua Therapeutics LLC, will sell generic versions of its hepatitis C drugs at a list price of $24,000 for the most common treatment course. These generics will get their own reimbursement code, thereby allowing companies to sell existing inventory at the prices originally intended, while also giving payers a lower-cost treatment alternative. Perhaps the biggest beneficiaries of this scheme will be managed Medicaid programs that don't currently reap benefits associated with rebates negotiated by their third-party administrators.”

Gilead Generics