‘Drug for one hepatitis type may activate another’

PARIS, Dec 3, (Agencies): Drugs against one type of hepatitis may activate another, sometimes with fatal consequences, Europe’s medicines watchdog warned on Friday.

The medicines, which are highly effective against hepatitis C, may trigger latent hepatitis B in patients infected with both types, the European Medicines Agency said in a statement.

It named the antivirals Daklinza, Exviera, Harvoni, Olysio, Sovaldi and Viekirax used to treat chronic hepatitis C, an infectious liver disease.

“Cases of the return of previously inactive hepatitis B infection, which can be fatal, have been reported in patients treated”, with this class of drug, the agency said in a statement announcing the findings of a probe.

There have been only about 30 cases of hepatitis B reactivation out of thousands of patients taking the drugs, the agency said. And there was not enough information to draw a conclusion on cancer risk. But a special risk assessment committee of the agency recommended that all patients be screened for hepatitis B virus before starting any of these treatments.

It also proposed that a warning be included in the drug information leaflet.

The drugs, a new class known as “directacting antivirals” are more effective than their predecessors.

At a cost of some 40,000 to 80,000 euros ($43,000-$86,000) for a 12-week course, they are the preserve of a lucky few.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, most often caused by a virus but sometimes by drug or alcohol abuse, other infections, or autoimmune diseases.

The B and C types usually occur from contact with body fluids of an infected person. Other than for hepatitis B, there is no vaccine against hepatitis C.

Former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli has congratulated a group of AustralLee ian students who reproduced the active ingredient for a life-saving, anti-parasitic drug at the centre of a drug-price controversy involving his former company.

The students from Sydney Grammar School drew global media attention this week after they said they had produced the drug Daraprim for about $2 a dose, a fraction of the current list price of $750 per dose.

Shkreli is a former chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, where he sparked outrage among patients and US lawmakers for raising the price of Daraprim by more than 5,000 percent.

“These Australian students are proof that the 21st century economy will solve problems of human suffering through science and technology”, Shkreli said in a video message posted on YouTube.

“We should congratulate these students for their interest in chemistry and I’ll be excited about what is to come in this STEM-focused 21st century”, he said, referring to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Daraprim is used to fight parasitic infections in AIDS patients, pregnant women and others.

The six students and their science teacher worked under the guidance of the University of Sydney and members of the Open Source Malaria consortium, which allows scientists to share research on anti-malaria drugs.

“We had to repeat a lot of the reactions and try different reaction conditions in order to see which materials in which things would react to make the Daraprim”, student Brandon Lee told Reuters Television on Friday.

Turing made front-page headlines after it bought the rights to Daraprim in August 2015. With no rival manufacturers making the drug, Turing quickly raised the price for a tablet of Daraprim to $750 from $13.50.

Overnight, the tiny company was vilified as an example of pharmaceutical industry greed, drawing fire from politicians and medical groups. Turing later said it would cut the cost of the drug to hospitals.

said the students wanted to show that “these compounds which you think are only accessible to these large, large-scale companies are actually able to be accessed and produced by ordinary citizens”.

Shkreli stepped down as Turing’s chief executive in December 2015 after being indicted on charges that he engaged in a Ponzi-like scheme at a hedge fund and Retrophin Inc, a company he once headed. He has pleaded not guilty.

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BERLIN: Germany reported a first case of the contagious bird flu strain H5N1 on Friday on a small poultry farm in the northeastern state of Brandenburg, the state’s consumer protection ministry said.

The farm in the Oberhavel district was sealed off and some 500 chicks, ducks and geese were culled, a spokeswoman for the consumer protection ministry of Brandenburg said.

“It’s the first time in the current season that this type of bird flu was detected on a poultry farm in Brandenburg”, the spokeswoman said.

The H5N1 strain is regarded as highly pathogenic, but less dangerous than the even more contagious H5N8 strain found in several European countries in the past few weeks.

France reported a H5N8 case of bird flu on Friday on a duck farm in the southwest, another setback for French poultry and foie gras exports which were hit by a similar outbreak a year ago.

The avian influenza virus was confirmed at a farm in the Tarn region, the agriculture ministry said, days after the virus was detected among wild birds in northern France and following outbreaks in Europe linked to migrating birds.

The H5N8 bird flu strain has also been found in over 370 wild birds in Germany since the present outbreak started in early November. Three large farms have suffered outbreaks along with a series of small farms, hobby poultry owners and zoos.