Access to new drugs could save 350 lives from hep C

Three hundred and fifty people seriously ill with hepatitis C need early access to new therapies that could save their lives, according to the Irish Haemophilia Society (IHS).

Of the 12,365 patients in Ireland with hepatitis C, 350 need urgent treatment.

“This group cannot medically tolerate the currently available interferon-based therapies, due to severe liver damage, which increases their risk of death if subjected to these treatments,” said the IHS in a statement. “The 350 people affected require treatments that are not based on interferon, which involves a combination of two drugs.”