FDA Approves New Hepatitis C Drug Epclusa Of Gilead Sciences

A pill has been approved by Federal health officials to treat all major forms of hepatitis C. The drug is first of the kind and latest in a series of approvals in the treatment of liver-destroying virus.

Dubbed as Epclusa, the pill comes from the stable of Gilead Sciences and has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for patients with or without liver damage.

It is reported the Epclusa is easier to use compared to other five drugs approved for hepatitis which are tailored to different viral stages or strains of liver disease.

According to the drug manufacturer, the new pill will be priced tagged $74,760 for a twelve-week course of treatment. This means a single pill to cost $890, which is less than the previous drug Harvoni of the company for hepatitis.

The price of Harvoni was $1,125 a pill. It was the first hepatitis C drug from Gilead.

The next pill for hepatitis was Sovaldi and it came at a cost of $1,000 per pill.

About 2.7 million people in the US are hepatitis C patient and in 2014 more than 19,000 deaths occurred due to the disease, reveals released data of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

FDA writes the most common side effects of the newly approved Epclusa include fatigue and headache.