Wales approves new hepatitis C drug while England deliberates

A new drug for hepatitis C has been approved for use in Wales ahead of its appraisal by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for use in England and is being made available to patients in line with the Welsh strategy to prevent the transmission of the virus.

The All Wales Medicines Strategy Group recommended Epclusa (sofosbuvir with velpatasvir) for use in the NHS in Wales after concluding that the treatment would be cost effective for most patients.1 The treatment will be funded under the Welsh patient access scheme. The price proposed by its manufacturer, Gilead, is confidential but likely to involve a discount from the UK list price of about £40 000 (€47 000; $50 000) …