Sofosbuvir in Morocco

This topic has 14 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 5 months ago by Matt-Kenney-google.

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27 October 2015 at 10:05 pm #2870
Vororo
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- Guardian Angel
@vororo
It seems that generic sofosbuvir will soon become available in Morocco…

http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/10/171080/moroccan-made-hepatitis-c-medicine-in-market-2/

Morocco is one of the countries that is excluded from the “territories” than may be supplied by the Indian manufacturers who have signed Gilead’s “Voluntary Licence”. So it seems that (with the blessing of the Moroccan government), one of Morocco’s generic manufacturers “Pharma 5” has gone ahead with the development of their own version of sofosbuvir…

This is great news for Morocco’s 625,000 hepatitis C sufferers (out of a population of some 33 million) because the company is reported to be planning a price of 3000 Moroccan Dirham, or approximately $300 US (in French):

http://www.lavieeco.com/news/economie/hepatite-c-pharma-5-redoute-l-arrivee-sur-le-marche-d-un-importateur-du-generique-du-sofosbuvir-35695.html

…. This might also mean that Morocco could soon become a very attractive holiday destination for european Hep-C tourists?

Additional sources (again in French):

http://www.aujourdhui.ma/maroc/societe/hepatite-c-pharma-5-commercialisera-le-generique-du-sofosbuvir-121423#.Vi-1kJeSHDc
http://telquel.ma/2015/04/22/hepatite-c-gilead-dement-avoir-accorde-autorisation-pharma-5_1443469
http://www.yabiladi.com/articles/details/37010/hepatite-comment-maroc-dribble-laboratoire.html

Diagnosed Jan 2015: GT3, A0+F0/F1. Fatigue + Brain-Fog.
Started Sof+Dac from fixHepC 10-Nov-2015. NO sides.
Pre-Tx: AST 82, ALT 133, Viral Load 1 900 000.
Week4: AST 47, ALT 58. VL < 15 (unquantifiable). Week12 (EOT): AST 30, ALT 26, VL UND Week16 (EOT+4): AST 32, ALT 28, GGT 24, VL UND Week28 (EOT+16): AST 26, ALT 22, GGT 24, VL UND Ever grateful to Dr James. Relapsed somewhere after all that... Bummer! Jan 2018: VL 63 000 (still GT3).
28 October 2015 at 6:23 pm #2977
dointime
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- Guardian Angel
@dointime
“.. This might also mean that Morocco could soon become a very attractive holiday destination for european Hep-C tourists?”

Yes, if you are not a woman! I base this comment on a travel I did to Morocco, admittedly several years ago. Having travelled in very many Arab, Asian, Indian, countries, Morocco gets my prize for the men who are the most pests to single foreign women. I was unable to walk unaccompanied by a man in any street without being approached constantly by irate Moroccan men who proceeded to lecture me on my very existence being an affront somehow to them. There was no actual bodily violence to my person as I stuck to well-populated main streets, but my clothes were pulled at, even though I was covered with a large headscarf and top-to-toe clothes with only hands and face showing. If I went again I’d wear a full burkha and veil, but It’s probably the one place on this earth that I would never go again, even to get hepc meds.

dointime
28 October 2015 at 9:02 pm #2985
LondonGirl
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- Guardian Angel
@londongirl
hey dt – do you mind me asking where you went in Morocco? Was it Marrakesh? I’ve heard it can vary quite a bit depending on the area.

GT1a Dec14 F2/8.7 VL 900000-2.5M
Jan16 Hepcivir-L MonkMed/Redemption
Baseline: VL 913575 Alt 76 Platelets low
Wk2 VL1157 Alt 23
DET Wk 8 VL 32 Alt19 ‘In the slow lane’
June16 Fibro 5.7 F0/1 LIF 1.5
Wk 11 VL<12 Alt 13 Det/Unq
Extending tx 12 wks Mylan Sofo/Dac MonkMed
Wk 14 VL <12 Det/Unq
Wk 16 VL UNDETECTED
Wk 22 + 4 Wks Sunprevir FixHepC
Wk 24 UNDETECTED Alt 13
Wk 12 post tx SVR12 Wk 26 SVR24
Thank-you Tim, Dr Debasis @ MonkMed & Dr Freeman @ Fix HepC
28 October 2015 at 9:39 pm #2986
Vororo
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- Guardian Angel
@vororo
Well, apart from reading the news in French, I must admit, my only real knowledge of Morocco comes from the film Casablanca….

Louis: What in heavens name brought you to Casablanca?
Rick: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Louis: The waters? What waters? We’re in the desert.
Rick: I was misinformed.

Diagnosed Jan 2015: GT3, A0+F0/F1. Fatigue + Brain-Fog.
Started Sof+Dac from fixHepC 10-Nov-2015. NO sides.
Pre-Tx: AST 82, ALT 133, Viral Load 1 900 000.
Week4: AST 47, ALT 58. VL < 15 (unquantifiable). Week12 (EOT): AST 30, ALT 26, VL UND Week16 (EOT+4): AST 32, ALT 28, GGT 24, VL UND Week28 (EOT+16): AST 26, ALT 22, GGT 24, VL UND Ever grateful to Dr James. Relapsed somewhere after all that... Bummer! Jan 2018: VL 63 000 (still GT3).
28 October 2015 at 10:12 pm #2987
dointime
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- Guardian Angel
@dointime
Hi LG, Vororo

The worst hassle was in Marrakesh. By hassle, I mean a seriously violent tone, not some half-hearted prodding. I also went up into the mountains with a male friend and our 2 ‘tour guides’ turned nasty on us and tried to charge us several times what we had agreed to pay them. We were not rookie travellers and not old or vulnerable at the time but we were glad to get out of there intact.

Vororo – I didn’t want to offend you so I thought twice about posting this, but women need to know that Morocco is not your ideal medical tourism destination, at least not when I was there. Maybe it has changed some and maybe it does depend on the area. I wouldn’t expect to get this kind of hassle on a tourist beach or there wouldn’t be any tourists there, but if I just wanted a tourist beach there’s plenty of other places to find one. I wanted an authentic experience and sure enough I got it! If you do go, go with a male friend and pack a burqua and veil, just in case.

dt
28 October 2015 at 10:42 pm #2988
LondonGirl
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- Guardian Angel
@londongirl
hey DT – Friends of mine had hassle in Marrakesh recently, male and female. They went out to a lovely place somewhere else away from the city and had a lovely time in a relaxed place with a very nice bunch of Moroccans who also took them on tours up mountains, apparently , great food a warm company. I think it does depend where you are and getting recommendations from others, but there’s always that element of risk there. Especially lone female Western travelers. It’s a shame, the art and the food is awesome (edit) and I might add, many of the people.

GT1a Dec14 F2/8.7 VL 900000-2.5M
Jan16 Hepcivir-L MonkMed/Redemption
Baseline: VL 913575 Alt 76 Platelets low
Wk2 VL1157 Alt 23
DET Wk 8 VL 32 Alt19 ‘In the slow lane’
June16 Fibro 5.7 F0/1 LIF 1.5
Wk 11 VL<12 Alt 13 Det/Unq
Extending tx 12 wks Mylan Sofo/Dac MonkMed
Wk 14 VL <12 Det/Unq
Wk 16 VL UNDETECTED
Wk 22 + 4 Wks Sunprevir FixHepC
Wk 24 UNDETECTED Alt 13
Wk 12 post tx SVR12 Wk 26 SVR24
Thank-you Tim, Dr Debasis @ MonkMed & Dr Freeman @ Fix HepC
28 October 2015 at 11:55 pm #2989
Vororo
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- Guardian Angel
@vororo
Hi DoinTime, LG, & friends,

No offence taken…

A really great thing about the FixHepC web site is that it allows people to share knowledge and experience about Hep-C itself, but also about what is happening in the world, and … lets say “other” … considerations that should be taken into account when trying to find what should be a basic treatment at a fair price which is accessible to all.

One thing I have learnt from this web site is that there are still may parts of the world that Gilead has failed to get its dirty hands on and that, thanks to people like Greg Jefferys and James Freeman, more and more people who are excluded or trapped by their own health care systems are successfully finding a way to treat themselves. Knowledge is most certainly power!

But let’s not forget that for most “westerners”, $1000 for a treatment might finally seem like a fair price, but this is still hopelessly out of reach for many people around the world… So, to really bring prices and barriers down, the more manufacturers the better!!

Diagnosed Jan 2015: GT3, A0+F0/F1. Fatigue + Brain-Fog.
Started Sof+Dac from fixHepC 10-Nov-2015. NO sides.
Pre-Tx: AST 82, ALT 133, Viral Load 1 900 000.
Week4: AST 47, ALT 58. VL < 15 (unquantifiable). Week12 (EOT): AST 30, ALT 26, VL UND Week16 (EOT+4): AST 32, ALT 28, GGT 24, VL UND Week28 (EOT+16): AST 26, ALT 22, GGT 24, VL UND Ever grateful to Dr James. Relapsed somewhere after all that... Bummer! Jan 2018: VL 63 000 (still GT3).
29 October 2015 at 5:26 am #3010
miko3
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- Guardian Angel
@miko3
But let’s not forget that for most “westerners”, $1000 for a treatment might finally seem like a fair price, but this is still hopelessly out of reach for many people around the world… So, to really bring prices and barriers down, the more manufacturers the better!!

Veroro.This is so true.We westerners on these forums have a tendency to be like kids in lolly shop with these generic prices.
Every year in India thousands of farmers commit suicide because they cannot afford to pay $500 for the seed for next years crop.Its the same in many places in Asia.There won’t be any true justice for many of these people until the price comes down to something near the cost of making the pill.

Gen 1b 40yrs,tx naive, f3/f4.VL too high to quantify.
Started tx 12Oct.sof and riba India via greg.Dac from Mesochem.
4wk result virus not detected,all liver functions in normal ranges.
Only SE intermittent insomnia.Feel great and grateful otherwise
29 October 2015 at 5:34 pm #3024
Dr James
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- Guardian Angel
@fixhepc
Yes, and it will happen like this.

First there was brand name medication for $84,000 and some people got treated

And then there were generics for $1000-$2000 and many more people got treated <<< We are here And then many factories started to make good generics and prices fell And then Hep C went the way of smallpox.

YMMV
26 May 2016 at 12:57 am #17783
Vororo
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- Guardian Angel
@vororo
According to this article:

http://www.huffpostmaghreb.com/2015/12/02/hepatite-c-pourquoi-geneirique-marocain-coute-moins-cher_n_8695680.html

Pharma 5 now has enough Sofosbuvir to supply the entire country of Morocco for one year. According to Pharma 5 (in French)

http://www.pharma5.ma/ssb-400/

the Moroccan Health Minister asked Gilead to include Morocco in the list of countries that Gilead would allow its Indian licensee companies to export to, but he got no reply. So the Health Minister authorised local production…

The cost is 3000 Dirhams per box (about $300 US) and Pharma 5 are now looking to supply much of Africa:

http://www.pharma5.ma/en/international-2/

Dear G7 Leaders, please take note!

Diagnosed Jan 2015: GT3, A0+F0/F1. Fatigue + Brain-Fog.
Started Sof+Dac from fixHepC 10-Nov-2015. NO sides.
Pre-Tx: AST 82, ALT 133, Viral Load 1 900 000.
Week4: AST 47, ALT 58. VL < 15 (unquantifiable). Week12 (EOT): AST 30, ALT 26, VL UND Week16 (EOT+4): AST 32, ALT 28, GGT 24, VL UND Week28 (EOT+16): AST 26, ALT 22, GGT 24, VL UND Ever grateful to Dr James. Relapsed somewhere after all that... Bummer! Jan 2018: VL 63 000 (still GT3).
26 May 2016 at 4:53 am #17792
Paul-Jarman-facebook
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- Guardian Angel
@paul-jarman-facebook
Thats great news for the people of North Africa but I don’t think Africa was ever Gilead’s target market. I expect this will piss them off quite a bit though as it may embolden other countries to take similar action.

cheers

Two time relapser.

SVR 4 achieved 12/16 at last
SVR 12 achieved 22/02/2017 The Bastard has been defeated

GT 3 – about 28 yrs with HCV
26 May 2016 at 5:41 am #17794
Gaj
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- Guardian Angel
@gaj
Agreed, and while Africa probably isn’t a primary market for them it is interesting to consider the current situation in Morocco in the context of the below thread:

http://fixhepc.com/forum/media-news/472-history-fighting-big-pharma-for-hiv-meds.html#5509

G3a since ’78 – Dx ’12 – F4 (2xHCC)
24wk Tx – PEG/Riba/Dac 2013 relapsed
24wk Tx – Generic Sof/Dac/Riba 2015/16 relapsed
16wk Tx – 12/01/17 -> 03/05/17 NS3/NS5a + Generic Sof
SVR7 – 22/06/17 UND
SRV12 – 27/07/17 UND
SVR24 – 26/10/17 UND
26 May 2016 at 5:49 am #17795
Paul-Jarman-facebook
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- Guardian Angel
@paul-jarman-facebook
Gaj wrote:

Agreed, and while Africa probably isn’t a primary market for them it is interesting to consider the current situation in Morocco in the context of the below thread:

http://fixhepc.com/forum/media-news/472-history-fighting-big-pharma-for-hiv-meds.html#5509

You want us to read this http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/tfisher/South%20Africa.pdf don’t you

Two time relapser.

SVR 4 achieved 12/16 at last
SVR 12 achieved 22/02/2017 The Bastard has been defeated

GT 3 – about 28 yrs with HCV
26 May 2016 at 6:13 am #17796
Gaj
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- Guardian Angel
@gaj
Whatever helps you sleep Paul!

More seriously while it is an interesting if long read, dt gives a good summary of it in the last post of the thread.

G3a since ’78 – Dx ’12 – F4 (2xHCC)
24wk Tx – PEG/Riba/Dac 2013 relapsed
24wk Tx – Generic Sof/Dac/Riba 2015/16 relapsed
16wk Tx – 12/01/17 -> 03/05/17 NS3/NS5a + Generic Sof
SVR7 – 22/06/17 UND
SRV12 – 27/07/17 UND
SVR24 – 26/10/17 UND
26 May 2016 at 8:39 pm #17849
Matt-Kenney-google
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- Guardian Angel
@matt-kenney-google
No doubt about it, the news is good for North Africans, and yet the question dt left on the table was, basically, why haven’t more governments stepped up to the plate?
… I guess the answer is, greed still trumps need. ick:' />
I agree with miko3 in many ways but Dr Freeman is right on target with what needs to happen to fix this as best we imperfect humans can.
Fight on for generics! Support Fixhepc and Dr Freeman’s efforts!

GT1a; Got it some time in the 70’s; Diagnosed @1976
Tx naive
METAVIR: A2-F2
SOT May 18, 2016: CMP: AST 162 ALT 241 VL 13000000
3 weeks after SOT: AST 27 ALT 31 VL 138
Reached EOT Aug. 10, 2016 / Received svr4 results Sept. 20, 2016: AST 22 ALT 24
Hep C RNA NOT DETECTED”
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