Reply to: "Negotiating better discounts for DAA therapy is critical to achieve HCV elimination by 2030"

Additional challenges in reaching hepatitis C elimination goals in Germany due to the COVID-19 pandemic - descriptive analysis of drug prescription data from January 2018 to June 2021

Effectively treating hepatitis C viral (HCV) infections prevents sequelae and onward transmission. In Germany, HCV drug prescriptions have declined since 2015. During the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns impacted the access to HCV care services and HCV treatment. We assessed if the COVID-19 pandemic further decreased treatment prescriptions in Germany. We built log-linear models with monthly HCV drug prescription data from pharmacies from January 2018 - February 2020 (pre-pandemic) to calculate expected prescriptions for March 2020-June 2021 and different pandemic phases. We calculated monthly prescription trends per pandemic phase using log-linear models. Further, we scanned all data for breakpoints. We stratified all data by geographic region and clinical settings. The number of DAA prescriptions in 2020 (n = 16,496, -21%) fell below those of 2019 (n = 20,864) and 2018 (n = 24,947), continuing the declining trend from previous years. The drop in prescriptions was stronger from 2019 to 2020 (-21%) than from 2018 to 2020 (-16%). Observed prescriptions met predictions from March 2020 to June 2021, but not during the first COVID-19 wave (March 2020-May 2020). Prescriptions increased during summer 2020 (June 2020-September 2020) and fell below the pre-pandemic numbers during the following pandemic waves (October 2020 - February 2021 and March 2021 - June 2021). Breakpoints during the first wave indicate that prescriptions plummeted overall, in all clinical settings and in four of six geographic regions. Both, outpatient clinics and private practices prescribed overall as predicted. However, outpatient hospital clinics prescribed 17-39% less than predicted during the first pandemic wave. HCV treatment prescriptions declined but stayed within the lower realms of predicted counts. The strongest decline during the first pandemic wave indicates a temporary HCV treatment gap. Later, prescriptions matched predictions despite of pronounced decreases during the second and third waves. In future pandemics, clinics and private practices need to adapt more rapidly to maintain a continuous access to care. In addition, political strategies should focus more on continuously providing essential medical care during periods of restricted access due to infectious disease outbreaks. The observed decrease in HCV treatment may challenge reaching the HCV elimination goals in Germany by 2030.

Pre-emptive pangenotypic direct acting antiviral therapy in donor HCV-positive to recipient HCV-negative heart transplantation: an open-label study

BACKGROUND

Low donor heart availability underscores the need to identify all potentially transplantable organs. We sought to determine whether pre-emptive administration of pangenotypic direct-acting antiviral therapy can safely prevent the development of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in uninfected recipients of HCV-infected donor hearts.

METHODS

Patients were recruited for this an open-label, single-centre, proof-of-concept study from Nov 1, 2017, to Nov 30, 2018. Following enrolment, the recipient's status on the heart transplantation waiting list was updated to reflect a willingness to accept either an HCV-positive or HCV-negative heart donor. Patients who underwent transplantation with a viraemic donor heart, as determined by nucleic acid testing (NAT), received pre-emptive oral glecaprevir-pibrentasvir before transport to the operating room followed by an 8-week course of glecaprevir-pibrentasvir after transplantation. Patients receiving HCV antibody-positive donor hearts without detectable circulating HCV RNA were followed using a reactive approach and started glecaprevir-pibrentasvir only if they developed viraemia. The primary outcome was achievement of sustained virological response 12 weeks after completion of glecaprevir-pibrentasvir therapy (SVR12). Patients were followed from study enrolment to 1 year after transplantation. This is an interim analysis, initiated after all enrolled patients reached the primary outcome. Results reflect data from Nov 1, 2017, to May 30, 2019. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT03208244.

FINDINGS

55 patients were assessed for eligibility and 52 consented to enrolment. 25 patients underwent heart transplantation with HCV-positive donor hearts (20 NAT-positive, five NAT-negative), three of whom underwent simultaneous heart-kidney transplantation. All 20 recipients of NAT-positive hearts tolerated glecaprevir-pibrentasvir and showed rapid viral suppression (median time to clearance 3·5 days, IQR 0·0-8·3), with the subsequent achievement of SVR12 by all 20. The five recipients of NAT-negative grafts did not become viraemic. Median pre-transplant waiting time for patients following enrolment in the HCV protocol was 20 days (IQR 8-57). Patient and allograft survival were 100% at a median follow-up of 10·7 months (range 6·5-18·0).

INTERPRETATION

Pre-emptive administration of glecaprevir-pibrentasvir therapy results in expedited organ transplantation, rapid HCV suppression, prevention of chronic HCV infection, and excellent early allograft function in patients receiving HCV-infected donor hearts. Long-term outcomes are not yet known.

FUNDING

American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, National Institutes of Health, and the Massachusetts General Hospital.