The Washington, D.C.-based National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends the federal government purchase antiviral medications targeting hepatitis B and C, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Here's what you should know.
1. The academies also urged the government to do the following:
- Implement an adult-facing vaccination campaign against hepatitis B
- Expand needled exchanges for drug users
- Launch a nationwide effort to identify and treat people afflicted with the diseases.
2. Both hepatitis diseases contribute to liver cancer and analysts say they impact liver cancer's increased incidence rate.
3. The vaccines can eliminate all hepatitis traces from a patient's body in approximately eight weeks. However, their current adaptation rate is relatively low because of cost. A full treatment costs between $55,000 and $150,000.
CMS has limited approval for treating the general population. The LA Times reports the agency covers late-stage hepatitis patients' treatment costs.
4. Pharmaceutical companies hold copyrights on the drugs until 2029, leading the academies to recommend the federal government license one or more vaccines.
5. Under their proposal, licensing would cost taxpayers an estimated $2 billion. CMS would expand its coverage as a result allowing some 700,000 Medicaid beneficiaries, prison inmates and Indian Health Service enrollees access.
6. If the licensing deal happens, estimates project the government will save more than $8 billion in treatment costs by 2030. IT would also greatly expand the drug's exposure.
New Brunswick, N.J.-based Rutgers University Chancellor Brian Strom, MD, said in a public event, "It's a win-win for everybody. For the public, it's a massive win." He added, for the pharmaceutical company a voluntary licensing deal could return "handsome dividends" in research and development.
7. Such a move would be uncharacteristic of the government, but President Donald Trump could consider the proposal. He has expressed, on several accounts, disdain towards pharmaceutical company's pricing practices, the LA TImes reports.