An Edmonton doctor is calling a new drug to treat people living with chronic hepatitis C a game changer.
“It really is a phenomenal drug,” said Dr. Stephen Shafran, who works at the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alberta.
While the drug was approved by Health Canada last week and not currently available to patients, Shafran said that Sofosbuvir (brand name Sovaldi) is effective against all known strains of hepatitis C and did not react to any other important drugs during clinical trials.
“That’s a big problem with some of the existing drugs,” Shafran said, noting to date there have only been two documented cases of resistance towards Sofosbuvir in the world.
For people living with the genotype one strain of hepatitis C, which accounts for roughly 65 per cent of hepatitis C cases in the country, the treatment regiment is only 12 weeks, with an 89 per cent success rate of patients being cured.
Shafran said this is a huge improvement when compared to current regiment, which can be between 24 to 48 weeks.
Currently, there are an estimated 250,000 Canadians living with chronic hepatitis C virus, with about 35 per cent of those individuals not knowing they have it.
Over time, the disease has a significant impact on the liver.
Shafran said due to continued scaring of the organ by hepatitis C many people suffer form cirrhosis of the liver, which can lead to liver failure.
Often, a liver transplant is necessary, which is what happened to Edmonton resident Vernen Foreman.
After contracting hepatitis C in 1970, Foreman received a new liver in September.
“I’ve had it a long time,” Foreman said, who had tried a number of different hepatitis C medications with no success.
“I would most definitely try this new drug,” he added. “With my new liver, the hepatitis C works on it the same way it works on my old liver.”
Foreman said he is hoping to take part in an upcoming study in the new year.
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