WHO joins clamor to make new hepatitis C pills affordable

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) – The World Health Organization wants a "concerted effort" to drive down the cost of new hepatitis C drugs that offer a cure for the liver-destroying virus but are unaffordable for most infected people worldwide. The forthright comments from the UN agency on Wednesday add to pressure on drugmakers such as Gilead Sciences – which is already facing protests in the United States over its $1,000-a-day pill – to do more to improve access. In its first-ever treatment guidelines for the disease, issued at a meeting of international liver experts in London, the WHO strongly recommended new drugs from Gilead and Johnson & Johnson – with a big caveat on their cost. As with AIDS 15 years ago, modern drugs are transforming the ability to fight hepatitis C because pills such as Gilead's Sovaldi are far more effective and better-tolerated than older injection regimens, with cure rates well above 90 percent in many cases.