Merck & Co. is entering the Hepatitis C market by targeting hard-to-treat and advanced stage patients; this approach opens up a new market space for the drug manufacturer instead of competing with Gilead Science’s Harvoni and/or Sovaldi or AbbVie Inc.’s Viekira Pak for patients in earlier stages of the disease. The advantage of Merck’s treatment beyond those currently available is its tolerance by patients with ‘substantial renal insufficiency,’ an important feature, as a large portion of patients on dialysis are Hep-C infected and no other treatment for this population exists today. Gilead is currently testing its drugs on patients with severe renal insufficiency, but is only approved for patients with mild or moderate kidney impairment (as is Viekira Pak). Merck is also investigating the additional avenue for identity by gaining approval for various subtypes of the virus: Genotypes 1, 4 and 6.  All three makers are currently working to develop a single treatment for all six subtypes of the disease.

You can learn more by reading the www.bloomberg.com article, MerckTargets Toughest Cases to Gain Hepatitis C Foothold