I received this email from a US citizen who lives in Cambodia. He flew to Bangladesh buy his generic Hepatitis C treatment and purchased generic Harvoni, as Twinvir, from Incepta in Banlgadesh.
He was extremely happy with the professional reception he received in Bangladesh from the people at Incepta and just as happy with the results of his Hep C treatment using Twinvir. He was concerned that Bangladesh is being ingnored in favour of India and he has some good points, as well as tips for going to Bangladesh, which can be cheaper and more convienient for people in South East Asia and other parts of the world.
Hi Greg.
Thanks for all your hard work. Bangladesh should not be forgotten as a good and reliable source of generic Hep C treatment. It seems to be flying under the radar on a lot of the Hep C forums.
My own story may help level the playing field.
The “licensing” by Gilead of certain companies, might just boil down to their ablility to collect royalties - nothing more.
Three months ago I traveled to Dhaka, Bangladesh. I arrived at noon. After checking into a hotel I hired a taxi to take me to Incepta Pharmaceuticals. They produce generic harvoni labeled Twinvir. Their office and shipping complex in Dhaka is very convenient. The management was happy to answer any questions I had. With my doctor’s prescription I was able to purchase a 6-month supply of Twinvir (I have stage 4 fibrosis). They mentioned that some people who have traveled to Bangladesh from places where their doctor refused to provide prescriptions for generic Harvoni were able to purchase the medicine with a doctor’s letter stating they had hepatitis C.
I flew home the next day. I started the treatment right away. A blood test after 2 weeks showed the virus was not detected and liver functions improved.
A blood test after 6 weeks also showed that the virus was not detected and liver functions had dramatically improved. After 3 months (this week) a blood test showed the virus was not detected and liver functions were now, in some cases, in the normal range.
My doctor has been more amazed than me!
He has since gotten a number of his other Hepatitis C patients on Twinvir. Some were treatment naive like me, others who had relapsed from former treatments. He wanted to show me the 2-week test results from several of them and all showed that the virus was not detected.
Bangladesh has several excellent pharmaceutical companies (including Beximco as well as Incepta) recognized by WHO, etc. Unlike India,because of their extreme poverty level, they are exempt from international patent laws. Indian drug companies, on the other hand, are required to pay royalties to Gilead. The price I paid was about $11 USD per tablet but I paid in the local money called Taka. The bottom line: For the price of a round-trip plane ticket, a one-night stay in Dhaka, a $50 visa on arrival plus $11 per tablet ? I was able to get a treatment that really is working!!!
Without going through the red tape and being “put on hold” by some public or private medical plan with political or commercial agendas.
To read the rest of this blog, with detailed information on the process of travelling to Bangladesh and buying Twinvir, visit Greg’s website.
