The exorbitant cost of hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatments make them unaffordable in wealthier nations, aidsmap reports. Publishing their findings in PLOS Medicine, researchers compared the prices of Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) and Harvoni (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir) in 30 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member countries and in the low- and middle-income nations Brazil, Egypt, India and Mongolia.

The researchers based their analysis on 2015 prices, presuming a 23 percent discount in all nations.

In the OECD nations, 12 weeks of Sovaldi cost a median $42,017, ranging between $37,729 in Japan and $64,680 in the United States. In the low- and middle-income nations, prices ranged between $539 in India and $6,875 in Brazil.

After adjusting for currency differences, the researchers found that Norway paid $28,092 for 12 weeks of Sovaldi while Poland paid more than $100,000. In low- and middle-income countries, the adjusted cost ranged between $1,861 and $9,708.

Among the OECD countries, the price for Harvoni treatment ranged between $43,215 in the United Kingdom and $72,765 in the United States. After adjusting for currency differences, the price ranged between $31,255 in Norway and $118,754 in Poland.

The currency-adjusted cost to treat the entire hep C population in each nation was between $20 billion and $35 billion in Poland, Turkey, Spain and Italy and was $100.9 million in Luxembourg and $166.6 billion in the United States.

Treating all Polish people with hep C would consume 1.6 times the nation’s total annual budget for pharmaceuticals. Treating 10 percent of the hep C population in Poland, New Zealand, Portugal, Italy and Spain would drain between 10 percent and 16 percent of each nation’s annual drug budget. These proportions were higher if Harvoni was used.

To read the aidsmap article, click here.

To read the study, click here.