U.S. regulators have approved the first drug to treat all forms of hepatitis C in as little as eight weeks.
The pill combination from AbbVie Inc. was approved Thursday by the Food and Drug Administration for adults without significant cirrhosis, a type of liver disease, and many patients who were not cured by prior treatment.
Mavyret joins two other AbbVie hepatitis C drugs, one from Merck & Co. and four from Gilead Sciences Inc. on the market. That gives doctors and patients more options, and insurers more leverage to wring discounts out of companies to cover the pricey drugs.
An estimated 2.7 million-3.9 million Americans have hepatitis C, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It usually develops slowly over decades, with no symptoms until serious damage is done. Without treatment, the virus can cause liver failure and liver cancer, often requiring a liver transplant or resulting in death.
For decades, hepatitis C treatment required a year of grueling shots and pills that gave patients flu-like symptoms and still barely cured half of them. Starting late in 2013, Gilead revolutionized treatment with the first pill-only medicines that brought cures in 12 weeks for more than 90 percent of patients.
Gilead has been raking in billions on the drugs. Insurance plans and government health programs have been straining to cover the huge cost - up to $94,500 for a course of treatment with its second drug, Harvoni - and initially limited coverage to the sickest patients.