Firm to promote access to cheaper DAA treatments

PETALING JAYA: Pharmaniaga Bhd’s wholly owned subsidiary Pharmaniaga Logistics Sdn Bhd has entered into a collaboration agreement with Pharco Pharmaceuticals and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi).
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, Pharmaniaga said the collaboration aims to promote widespread access to affordable direct acting antivirals (DAAs) including ravidasvir in combination with sofosbuvir or other potential DAAs as safe, effective, affordable and pan-genotypic treatments for Hepatitis C in Malaysia. The collaboration follows the Health Ministry’s recent announcement on the proposal to import effective generic drugs for treatment of Hepatitis C.
To recap, the ministry said in September that it expects to save RM49,500 in medication costs per patient per year in treating Hepatitis C-infected patients by switching to generic medicine, reflecting a 99% drop in cost per patient.
The ministry said it was paying RM50,000 per year for the patented drug for each patient while the generic drug costs only RM500 for a year’s supply. The number of patients in Malaysia with Hepatitis C is estimated at 500,000.