availability of the latest [expensive] cure for hep C in LOS?

[jaideeguy]

Just read about the latest cure for hepatitis C that has a 90% cure rate and less side effects and shorter duration of treatment, but the cost in the US is $80,000.

Is it available here yet?? and what is the cost here??

[submaniac]

Are you referring to Sovaldi? This is still a very new drug. As of February 2014 the makers (Gilead) were negotiating generic licensing agreements for production in India. A generic will be available, but as far as I know this has not happened yet.

[Sheryl]

Please be specific as there are a number of expensive drugs available in Thailand for treatment of Hep C, I cannot tell which one you mean (or if you possibly mean one not yet approved).

Sofosbuvir (sovaldi) does not yet seem to be approved for use in Thailand.

[jaideeguy]

Yes, it's Sovaldi...........................sorry for not mentioning the name in my OP. Hopefully there will be a generic version available soon as the cost is $1,000 per day from what I read.

[Sheryl]

Even the brand name is not yet approved for use in Thailand.

The patent does not expire until 2029. Of course some countries disregard that and given the potential public health value that may happen in this case.

[jaideeguy]

Yeah, it's too bad that only the rich can afford a cure and that the cost will prevent most others from getting the cure, causing more spread of Hepatitis C.

Makes me wonder if it is covered by medicare/Medicaid or Obamacare. If so, then maybe worth a trip back to the states??

Edited April 29, 2014 by jaideeguy

[PMK]

1. Mail shipment from India: the following Indian brands like HEPCINAT, HEPCVIR, RESOF, SOFOVIR, SOVIHEP - price for 12 weeks treatment is 1500$, price for 24 weeks treatment is 2650$ . Special rates forMYHEP 400mg TABLETS MANUFACTURED IN MYLAN LABS IS 1300$/12W AND 2300$/24W . ALL transport extra fees included. We will take charge of every risk associated with the shipment of drugs, eventually you will get the parcel delivered directly to your hands, the shipping is carried out by EMS company.
2. Pick-up from our office at Mumbai: the price for 12 weeks treatment is 1200$, all risks associated with custom processing will be tackled by the customer.

TERMS OF DELIVERY​

Before the payment, we will ask you to provide a scanned copy of a PCR test result for HCV RNA (qualitative, quantitative, genotyping), or a medical prescription used to prove the necessity of purchasing SOFOSBUVIR. Copy of the document should be attached in the ‘personal order” subject, or sent via e-mail after the request has been processed. Please note that requests with no documents attached are processed as a low priority, consequently we kindly ask you to prepare the necessary scanned copies beforehand.

http://www.hcvtalk.com/threads/buy-generic-sovaldi-sofosbuvir-from-india.1/

[PMK]

I have it on good authority that none of these drugs will be available in Thailand for foreigners but will be for Thais probably before the end of the year. If you need them, there is possibly a doctor in Bangkok that can help you buy them from India. You will have to go there to get them. He is not keen on generics. PM me if you want his name.

[jaideeguy]

An update of my recent experiences with Solvaldi.

First a little background............

With my increasing symptoms of HVC, I decided to return to the US when I heard that the Veteran's Administration was waking up to their responsibility of playing a large part in the transmission of this deadly disease with the use of the jet air guns for inoculations during the Viet Nam war era 1962-1975 when they were experimenting with a new mass vaccine gun that would shoot the most vaccine in record time..............6 or 7 shots could be administered in one shot. Downside is that they didn't realize was that the same gun was spreading [infected] blood down the line of recruits blood flying everywhere because if you flinched, the jet simply sliced you and very little if any sanitising between blood exposure. The VN war generation has the highest incidence of HVC of any other group, but at that time, the HVC virus had not been isolated and they simply called it 'non specific hep B' until they isolated it in 1992.

Meanwhile this nasty virus remains in your blood and liver with no visable and undetectable symptoms until they isolated it in1992. Mine was discovered during a routine but complete checkup at at CM Ram hospital 15 years ago. I was still asymptomatic until this last few years when the fatigue and mind fog kicked in.

Fast forward to the present...........

I was seeing the best liver doctors in CM and was offered an archaic cure there as the ONLY option by the best liver specialists in Chiang Mai, but MY research told me that there were cutting edge [e$pensive] drugs in common usage back in the US and when my disease suddenly caught up with me, I had to make the decision to return for the cure, rather than rot away in pain in a Thai hospital with Thai Drs scratching their heads and not giving me the proper meds. I had to educate my Thai Drs about the latest cure..............[they don't read the journals after they get their degree!]

So, i decided to take my chances and leave my comfortable home in CM and went directly to the VA upon arrival and they approved me for Soldavi. After 3 months of Tx provided by the Veteran's Administration [thank you VA], I am now free of this deadly virus.............at least according to the 'lab numbers'. My viral load 13 years ago was 240,000 and by the time the VA tested it, it had increased to 3.8 mil and my liver was in early cirrhosis.

The VA approved me for the latest miracle drug [12 weeks of Sovaldi] and my viral load lab results dropped from 3.8mil to 2,000 in the first 2 weeks, then even lower, down to what they call 'clearance' at week 8 and has remained virus free until after week 12. Now finised TX and they [hopefully] declare me totally clear of the virus.

I won't bash Thailand, but I have finally realized that LOS is a great place to be young and retire early and cheaply, but when you have serious health issues, the West is the best place to be. The Thai medical system is great for patching up yourself after a motorcycle accident or cosmetic surgery, but they are 10+ years behind the West when you get a serious disease.

Asia has been good to me for 25+ years in LOS and the Philippines, but now time to realize that the party is over and life is good here in Hawaii, altho expensive.............STILL NO REGRETS for my decision!!

Internet is fast, the air and the land is so much cleaner, people have manners and are friendly, school system is much better for my kids, health care is complicated, but there are ways to save $ etc........

If the above post by PMK is legitimate, I would have taken a gambol on that, but it's a gambol and competent monitoring is recommended and support is lacking in the Thai system. Then, there is the issue of genotype. I seem to recall that soldavi is most effective on geno 1a and 1b and Asia has it's own genotype that may not respond as well.

my advise to all out there is 'get tested' weather you have symptoms or not and get the latest diagnostic tool called a 'fibroscan' that gives you an accurate assessment of the condition of your liver.

Good luck and I hope that this disjointed ramble of mine will open some eyes and maybe save some lives.

JDG

PM me if you have any questions that I haven't addressed.

[PMK]

There is some new info about treatment in Thailand. I myself am on a 12 week course of Interferon, Sofobuvir (Bangladeshi) and Copegus (antiviral) for Hepatitis with some cirrhosis already. Note the any pre-existing cirrhotic damage affects the drugs that will be used in treatment and their duration. I'm not going to give details on progress because results may vary, but in my case after only 12 *days* it is all I could have hoped for. I do have to continue on for the full 12 weeks.

Anyone interested - and also in the prospect of getting Solvadi in Thailand in the near future, because he is the guy that will know, make an appointment with Dr. Theera at Samitivej, Sukhumvit. He is only there on weekends, has a wait list of a few months, and will probably charge 2,500 per appointment. Regarding the availability of Solvadi in Thailand, the situation is in a state of flux right now. He will have the latest info. If you want immediate treatment you *may* have to go buy the drugs in India or Bangladesh youself. He can provide details on that.

Fibroscan results don't seem to affect treatment much. It'll indicate how much damage is present, like taking temperature will on how bad your fever is. The bottom line is long term Hepatitis C significantly raises the odds on getting liver cancer as well as serious cirrhotic damage and should be dealt with if at all possible.

[Sheryl]

Very useful post, PMK, many thanks for it.

There are doctors in Thailand who continue to read medical journals and attend conferences (even make presentations at them...) after graduation. But one has to do some research to find them, and then go to some effort to seek them out, and they are largely concentrated in Bangkok.

As for new drugs and treatments, I would agree that in general there is a 5-10 year time lag in coming into use here. And if it is something for a condition not common here, it may never arrive as the drug company may not consider it worthwhile to pursue registration on the Thai market (not applicable to Hep C of course, but true for some other things).

[zippydedodah]

there is a company in china (mesochem) that is manufacturing the APIs that can be combined for successful treatment of HepC.

They quoted me:

Below is the price for your reference:

The price for 36g Sofosbuvir+ 8g Ledipasvir is USD1880 in total. - 98% efficacy

and if you prefer an alternative:

The total price for 36 grams of sofosbuvir and 5 grams of daclatasvir will be 925USD in total. 96% efficacy

these APIs have been sent to various places (legally) around the world and continue to test out at 99% purity...

my question is: has anyone in thailand had these shipped into this country without a problem? Does anyone know the legal status of these drugs, currently?

I am thinking of pursing treatment using these APIs, but i would hate to dish out that kind of $$ and have them seized by Thai customs.

[h90]

If they have it in India cheap, I would just buy it there, legal or not, if my liver is about to brake down there is no place to worry about laws.....

[PMK]

If they have it in India cheap, I would just buy it there, legal or not, if my liver is about to brake down there is no place to worry about laws.....

There is more to it that that, especially if you have cirrhosis. You may need other drugs and certainly will need monitoring. Go see Dr. Theera at Samtivej, Sukhumvit. He can advise you what you need a where to get it. I think he is the only guy in Thailand that can. Book now. He has a long waiting list and is only there on the weekends. BTW, I am now in the last weeks of treatment. Need further tests but the Hep C virus was not found after only the first two weeks of treatment, so I am optimistic.

Don't ask me for any other details because my situation may not be the same as yours, and don't want to mislead anyone or give wrong info so this is my last post on this thread. Once again, don't screw around with this, go and talk to Dr. Theera.

Edited September 9, 2015 by PMK

[h90]

If they have it in India cheap, I would just buy it there, legal or not, if my liver is about to brake down there is no place to worry about laws.....

There is more to it that that, especially if you have cirrhosis. You may need other drugs and certainly will need monitoring. Go see Dr. Theera at Samtivej, Sukhumvit. He can advise you what you need a where to get it. I think he is the only guy in Thailand that can. Book now. He has a long waiting list and is only there on the weekends. BTW, I am now in the last weeks of treatment. Need further tests but the Hep C virus was not found after only the first two weeks of treatment, so I am optimistic.

Don't ask me for any other details because my situation may not be the same as yours, and don't want to mislead anyone or give wrong info so this is my last post on this thread. Once again, don't screw around with this, go and talk to Dr. Theera.

No I don't have Hep. C, but the mother from a past girlfriend hat it, and I am very interested in that topic with the medicine that costs nothing in production but is sold extreme expensive (OK I know they need to get back the money for developing it).

[partington]

If they have it in India cheap, I would just buy it there, legal or not, if my liver is about to brake down there is no place to worry about laws.....

There is more to it that that, especially if you have cirrhosis. You may need other drugs and certainly will need monitoring. Go see Dr. Theera at Samtivej, Sukhumvit. He can advise you what you need a where to get it. I think he is the only guy in Thailand that can. Book now. He has a long waiting list and is only there on the weekends. BTW, I am now in the last weeks of treatment. Need further tests but the Hep C virus was not found after only the first two weeks of treatment, so I am optimistic.

Don't ask me for any other details because my situation may not be the same as yours, and don't want to mislead anyone or give wrong info so this is my last post on this thread. Once again, don't screw around with this, go and talk to Dr. Theera.

No I don't have Hep. C, but the mother from a past girlfriend hat it, and I am very interested in that topic with the medicine that costs nothing in production but is sold extreme expensive (OK I know they need to get back the money for developing it).

How much did it cost the company to develop it, do you have any idea? I don't, but development costs for a new drug in the US currently run between $4- 11 billion according to Forbes

http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2012/02/10/the-truly-staggering-cost-of-inventing-new-drugs/

Even if the Gilead drug is at the very lowest end of this, say $3 billion development costs, they have to sell $3 billion worth before they even break even on the 10 years it took to develop, as a business gamble. If the $80,000 quoted is the cost of a "cure" for one person, then they would need to sell that to 37, 500 people just to get no money back at all. If they lowered the price to $20,000 it would need 150,000 people to be treated for them to make no money. I won't labour the point, but you see what the economic realities are.

Like you I am in favour of making generics, even illegally, when lives are at stake, and I'm not a massive fan of big pharmaceutical companies (or any big companies for that matter).

But I genuinely understand that in a world where drugs are developed by big business and not research organisations owned and run by the people of the country for their own benefit, drugs will not be developed if the drug companies think they will never get their money back, or that when they spend $10 billion to develop a drug an Indian company will copy the formula and sell it at a twentieth of the price.

I really don't know a solution for this except to do drug development as a state service...but that has problems too and would be almost impossible to implement.

Edited September 9, 2015 by partington

[offset]

I just want to say that is if you have the normal blood test for Hep C antibodies it does not mean that you still have Hep C there is another more expensive test to detect if you still have Hep C because your body can beat Hep C without you knowing you ever had it I know because it happen with me

[h90]

I just want to say that is if you have the normal blood test for Hep C antibodies it does not mean that you still have Hep C there is another more expensive test to detect if you still have Hep C because your body can beat Hep C without you knowing you ever had it I know because it happen with me

My father got diagnosed with Hep B....When he told it his wife, he got an ear full, as it was an antibody test and he was 1-2 years before vaccinated against Hep B. Actually from the same doc who told him he has Hep B

(but at this time Hep B vaccinations weren't common).

The old housewife had to teach the Doc and the Manager

So his liver problems were not from the Hep B, it was just a fatty liver and dieting off 15 or 20 kg fixed the problem.

[Sheryl]

I just want to say that is if you have the normal blood test for Hep C antibodies it does not mean that you still have Hep C there is another more expensive test to detect if you still have Hep C because your body can beat Hep C without you knowing you ever had it I know because it happen with me

with all types (A, B C etc) antibodies just mean ever infected (and long enough ago to have formed antibodies). Will also be positive (or should be) if immunized, i nthe case of A and B for which there are vaccines.

antigen test detects whether currently infected

[offset]

I just want to say that is if you have the normal blood test for Hep C antibodies it does not mean that you still have Hep C there is another more expensive test to detect if you still have Hep C because your body can beat Hep C without you knowing you ever had it I know because it happen with me

with all types (A, B C etc) antibodies just mean ever infected (and long enough ago to have formed antibodies). Will also be positive (or should be) if immunized, i nthe case of A and B for which there are vaccines.

antigen test detects whether currently infected

Thank you Sheryl I guess that is the test I has second if i remember it cost about 2500 baht 7 years ago

I was just trying to explain that your body can self cure Hep C in a few cases

[zippydedodah]

i have a good friend travelling to China in a couple of weeks and he said he would be happy to receive the appropriate APIs from mesochem in China for me and bring back to Thailand IF and only IF i can insure him that it is legal for him to transport into thailand.

He does not fear being able to leave China with the drugs.. it is coming into Thailand. Does anyone have information re: current laws concerning bringing

36 grams of sofosbuvir and 5 grams of daclatasvir into thailand?

[zippydedodah]

well, India is rumored to be offering generic Harvoni in December - which, if it happens will be good news for many of us.

But right now, you can go to Bangladesh and buy it at a pharmacy.

Has anyone done this? I did usual google searchs and cannot find and reports from real patients and real results.

but maybe i missed something...

any help out there on this issue?

[Sheryl]

i have a good friend travelling to China in a couple of weeks and he said he would be happy to receive the appropriate APIs from mesochem in China for me and bring back to Thailand IF and only IF i can insure him that it is legal for him to transport into thailand.

He does not fear being able to leave China with the drugs.. it is coming into Thailand. Does anyone have information re: current laws concerning bringing

36 grams of sofosbuvir and 5 grams of daclatasvir into thailand?

The law is that one is allowed to bring in with them a maximum of a 30 day supply of medications for personal use. there are additional requirements for controlled substances but that does not apply for these items.

If it is clearly labelled as prescribed for him and the quantities seem consistent with short term personal use (they do not usually calculate exactly, just the overall appearance) will be fine.

[zippydedodah]

About 5 weeks ago, i traveled to Bangladesh and purchased 24 weeks of Twinvir - generic Harvoni, sold by Incepta. Returned thru BKK and on to CM with no hassles. Cost in Dhaka was 1860 USD for 24 weeks of pills.

Have been told by liver docs in CM that expectation is that Thailand will be getting supply from India, hopefully by end of first quarter in 2016. Problem is that Gilead (so i hear) wants it available only to Thai nationals and cost might run about 60 USD/pill... i only paid about 11 USD in Dhaka, but still, way cheaper than 1100/pill in USA.

Gilead has a real hard-on for Thailand, so availability and pricing may suffer because of this.

If you check with the buyers club out of Tasmania/Australia, secure and reliable generics are supposed to be available thru their friends in BKK right now, at a much cheaper price than $60/pill...

Edited December 19, 2015 by zippydedodah

[thaivisareader]

Hi everyone, I'm a newbie to this forum. I just tested positive last month at a VA hospital in SoCal. for Hep C genotype 1b. No idea how long I've had it, no symptoms. I suspect I received it from a dodgy tattoo shop in the early 90's. I've never used IV drugs but have shared bills to snort coke way back when- another risk factor. The liver ultra sound showed no cirrhosis. Yet. I do drink a beer or three a day.

Anyway, the VA said the process for getting free Gilead Harvoni ($1,000 per pill) would take awhile but I would probably eventually end up getting the green light for it since I am a Vietnam vet in group 3 VA care. However, I just couldn't stick around the U.S. being passed around from specialist to specialist in the VA system waiting for a yes or no. As soon as I got back to my home in N.E. Thailand, I started contacting Pharma suppliers. One in Bangladesh and several in India via skype, phone and email (also one clinic in Yangoon) I was looking for a 12 week supply of the just released Hepcinat HP (generic Harvoni) manufactured by NATCO Pharma under license and supervision from Gilead. It's identical to Harvoni at a fraction of the cost of Harvoni. Based on what I heard, I decided to go with Aurel Pharma in Delhi. I was quoted not the cheapest nor the most expensive price but I just had confidence in the guy running the show there, Mr. Sumit "Sam" Gupta. On Dec. 23 I requested a wire transfer from my U.S. bank to his bank to have him EMS me the product. This morning (29th) the package arrived at my house. No duty due. I called NATCO Pharma to verify some numbers on the boxes and they did check out. I will take the first of 84 daily pills tonight around 8:00. The cost including $25 for EMS was just under U.S. $14 per pill. Sam didn't require an Rx (I don't have one anyway)

So far, that's my Hep C story and hopeful clearing of the virus via self medicating with Hepcinat LP from India. There is help out there and not that hard to accomplish. I hope. I wish all people with Hep C the best of luck in getting well.

[jaideeguy]

Those other options weren't available in Thailand a year and a half ago and in fact the Thai liver specialists in the best hospitals in Chiang Mai didn't even know about the Harvoni and could only offer the old TX of a year of hell drugs for a 25% chance of recovery.

However, the Thai docs did have the latest in diagnostic tools.........the 'fibroscan' which revealed that I was in the early cirrhotic stage and immediately sold my properties in CM at a loss to get back for TX, was accepted in a couple of months and started TX immediately after baseline lab testing.

Now, 6+ months after TX for 18 weeks I'm feeling like a new [68 yr] old man. My viral load has remained at zero, liver enzymes normalized, cholesterol normalized, early diabetes markers normalized, hypertension has normalized and even my toe nail fungus has disappeared but a few symptoms of the HCV [and/or TX?] are still lingering.....some fatigue and arthritic pains, and mind fog but hopefully they will fade as well.

Lets hope that these new Indian and Chinese drugs are the real deal and can work the miracle that the original Gillard did for me and others.

A word of caution for those going that route...........get your baseline tests: Genotype, viral load tests, fibroscans, all liver blood work on a regular schedule during TX and please share the results with others thinking of going through TX. Would love to hear success stories

Those that go with the Asian self TX should educate yourselves and join and read some of the many support groups dedicated to those pre, during and post TX for some better support. We're still guiney pigs for big pharma and who knows how the cards will play out.

let's hope for the best for all of you and that you will all 'slay your dragons' in 2016.

And, any US military vets out there considering filing a claim for disabilities, I have a few links that I can share with you.

Happy new years to all of Thailand!!

[zippydedodah]

I went to Dhaka and bought 24 weeks of Twinvir for 1850 USD... am 2 months into my treatment. worked out to about 11 USD/pill

First month was a month from hell for side-effects... even picked up a case of Bells Palsy outta nowhere... but most/all of early side effects are gone and starting to feel really healthy again.

Had some liver tests done a couple of weeks ago, but not a viral load. All liver functions are within normal ranges now - whereas they were 2-300% above normal before treatment.

For the record... i had stage 4 Fibrosis (did a fibroscan in chiang mai), had a viral load of 8.9 million, genotype 1A and was diagnosed in September 1967. I underwent interferon tx 10 years ago and it failed and let me miserable.

There is a gentleman selling authentic twinvir in BKK for around 55K baht for 12 weeks of tx. A pal purchased down there from him and he works with Greg and Dr. Freeman out of Australia.

I also spoke with Incepta Reps yesterday and they informed me they will now ship Twinvir directly to an individual in thailand and also that they intend to lower prices a bit starting this month.

All in all.. some real progress being made in availability/options of meds.

[thaivisareader]

Really great news about the growing availability of the three (so far) generic Harvoni - Twinvir, Ledifos and Hepcinat LP. It's happening. People in this part of the world who have hep c gen.1, 3 are in the right geographic area to access them fairly easily either by direct pick-up or mail. I hope these drugs just take off worldwide to help everyone.

I had my three bottles of Hepcinat LP sent from India to Issan quickly with zero problems. A bit under $14 per pill including EMS. I will take my 14th pill tonight. Everyone will react differently to any given medication especially a med. as strong as this one. For me, so far, nothing bad at all yet. It's hard to describe, but I can tell something heavy is going on. I've had a few headaches which I rarely had before and vivid but not unpleasant dreams. Slight fatigue but I am 66. Still doing light weight training and cardio at the gym 4-5 days per week. Hoping for no increase in side effects but if that happens so be it- anything to clear the virus. I got the bad news after routine blood work at the VA in Nov. Liver enzymes high normal to slightly high. Viral load was high- 2.3 million. No cirrhosis according to liver scan. I plan on getting my blood checked in a couple weeks.

I just hope all you readers that have hep c or know someone who does will realize this could be the year to do something about it. Spread the word, please. Good luck and happy year of the monkey to all.

[thaivisareader]

finished 8 weeks of Hepcinat LP (Indian generic Harvoni) last week and went for blood work @ Bangkok Hospital. Results: normal liver enzymes and no detected virus. Now there are 3 more weeks of daily pills to take and I will be visiting a VA clinic in April and have a liver scan and blood work done there as well. Hoping for the best after 12 weeks post pills. Some manageable side effects for me so far - joint aches, technicolor dreams, and the most irritating- mild to moderate tinnitus which I never had before even after over 30 yrs. in heavy construction work. No complaints, just putting the info out there for anyone who might be interested. Best of luck to all.

Edited February 29, 2016 by thaivisareader

[namatjira]

Lucky lucky for Australians....the Australian government subsidies it's people that have hep c , cost for treatment if you are an Australian in Australia is six Aussie dollars.....here's to a good government