- Maybe Money Can Help Buy Happiness, After All
- Will Vaccines Work Against the New Coronavirus Variants?
- AHA News: Keeping Your Brain Sharp Isn’t About Working More Puzzles
- Could Stem Cell Therapy Be a Breakthrough Against MS?
- Diabetes Boosts Odds for Heart Trouble 10-fold in Younger Women
- Severe Allergic Reaction Extremely Rare With Pfizer COVID Vaccine: Study
- Biden Unveils Details of National Pandemic Response Plan
- Health Highlights: Jan. 21, 2021
- Biden COVID Advisor Says Poor Preparation, Changing Virus Could Slow Vaccine Effort
- Arthritis Drug Tocilizumab Flops as COVID-19 Treatment
Sovaldi Approved for Chronic Hepatitis C
Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat chronic infection with Hepatitis C. It’s considered a breakthrough medication since it’s the first such drug that does not require same-time administration of interferon, the agency said in a news release.
Infection with the hepatitis C virus causes liver inflammation that can lead to liver failure. Most infected people have no symptoms for years until the onset of liver failure, the FDA said. Complications may include a yellowing of the eyes and skin called jaundice, liver cancer, bleeding or fluid accumulation in the abdomen. Some 3.2 million Americans are infected with hepatitis C, the agency said.
Sovaldi is designed to inhibit a protein that the virus needs to replicate. The drug’s safety and effectiveness were evaluated in clinical studies involving 1,947 people who hadn’t responded to other hepatitis C treatments, who hadn’t been treated previously, or who couldn’t tolerate the standard treatment of interferon, the FDA said.
The most common side effects of Sovaldi included fatigue and headache. The drug is marketed by Gilead, based in Foster City, Calif.
More information
The National Library of Medicine has more about hepatitis C.
Source: HealthDay
