Malcolm, thank for watching Benitec.  All I get on it over here in USA is the goop on the Internet . 

RC 

Well, it is about time for Merck approval.  I have been UND for 2 years, 5 months now and declared SVR July 2014.  I got the Merck trial arm of 18 weeks with ribavirin in my clinical trial--Had cirrhosis and was 79 back then. Have had no serious side issues then or now.  Just seems the pills caused some stomach problems now and then.  But I really had few problems with my HepC either. Maybe because I stopped drinking, etc 50 years ago when I was told I had some sort of liver damage.  I was already 31 by then so had some years back in the 1960's to do plenty of experimenting--especially in Los Angeles, where I lived then.  About time to go in for another round of tests from Merck--so far--so good.  Very, very grateful that Merck accepted me into their trial.

SuziQ     

Oh oh, it looks like I appear to be the first on the train here.

I really hope Malcolm gets a good night sleep down there and wakes up saying "On second thought..."

JimmyK

Robert,

Benitec are moving VERY slowly. The TT-034 Trials are all in the USA and to date, only 7 patients have been dosed in the Phase I-IIa Trials.

I understand they are awaiting FDA approval to do further Phase II-III Trials. The correct dose is still uncertain. I get updates, so I'll post anything of importance. Cheers.

This is still in the recruitment phase. Looks like the end of this year. It is an 8 week formula. 1 pill. For 1a and 1b. 

Merck is indeed too slow. Gilead already made a ROI+profit from purchasing Pharmaasset's golden (kinda stolen) PSI-7977.

Any results from trials with MK-3682 yet?

best

Merck is in NJ near me. Lately you could hear them sobbing as you drove by. They are the ones that formulated and produced that nasty "Interferon".  I am happy now that my neighbor has produced a much welcomed drug to kill more Dragon's.  Good Bye Interferon!!!!! Hello Zepatier. At bargin basement prices, comming to a pharmacy near you. Now it's me who can sit back and watch Big Pharma scramble instead of me! I love it. On to my SVR24 next month. (I am late so it will be a SVR34) Doc's really overwelmed with patients! It will be interesting to see another force or army on this form, so we can compare it to our other 2 drug makers.

PS, Zepatier uses Riba with or without based on amino acid levels. 95% cure rates.  Mmmm.

Malcolm,  How's that little Aussie  Company   "Benetec" doing??    They are working on a one time infusion, may even prevent re-infection??   Any news from down under on this company?  RC

I'm still waiting for MK-3682. This is Merck's new nucleoside NS-5B blocker, said to be better than Sovaldi. The Trials are taking forever.

Man, Merck are slow.

The article I just read said Merck's banking on the larger number of GT 1-4's vs pan genotypic approach to take market share away from Gilead. They're hoping to cash in on the tide moving to Zelpatisvir for 1-4, simply because of price. Velpatasvir if not released at a more affordable price, Gilead will lose to generics and lower, as effective treatments. At least that's what some of "them" are saying. Your block might be sitting just fine! The insurance carriers are going to flock to that here in the States. At least it seems very possible to me. We'll see....

I'm disappointed. I have a large block of Merck shares and was hoping for better.

Unfortunately, Elbasvir is the weak link in Zepatier. As pre-treatment RAV testing should be performed, Z. is unlikely to challenge Gilead.

RAV's at the NS-5A domain continue to be the issue. These may be pre-existing or due to a prior treatment failure. It appears that increasing the treatment length to 16 weeks, and adding Ribavirin, will increase the SVR rate. Geno 1b's do best.

It appears that Sovaldi is required in any treatment regime, to achieve the best possible chance of SVR.

Also, I thought this was to be pan-genotype. Why are Geno 2 and 3 patient not included?

Competition rules and it's always great to hear there are more weapons to fight this virus.

Thank you for the information Bubble.

Yes, certainly exciting on a couple of fronts:

1) Another weapon available to those with Genotypes 1 & 4

2) More competition thus should tend to push prices down across the board.

Hopefully we see this scenario with pan-genotype DAA's as well, sometime in the not too distant future.

Fortunately, market fluctuations tend to happen at a very rapid rate so puts a lot of pressure on those like Gilead to respond to that competition. (It sure would be great to see them have to back down from that $1000/pill price tag).

Dave

 p.s. Thanks for the news Bubble!

Nice to see another weapon in our arsenal of new drugs. The rates of success are equivalent with the other new DAA's and treatment lengths, 12 or 16 weeks, depend on treatment experience and fibrosis. Looks promising and the treatment cost will definitely impact treatment consideration. I'll add the new information regarding their new PAP to our forum information.

Keeping an eye on GILD.... 

Thanks Bubble, yes this is Merck`s `Zepatier` (elbasvir + grazoprevir), and here`s the full details..

Zepatier FDA approval

Interesting! 

We have #3 in the Hep C market today. Merck has been FDA approved for Geno 1 and 4. And it is cheaper than Harvoni and Abb-Vie.  Only $53,000. Gilead's stock has dropped at this hour by 3%.