Cross-posted from the HHS.gov Hepatitis blog

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a viral disease that causes inflammation of the liver that can lead to diminished liver function or liver failure. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 2.4 million people in the United States have chronic HCV, and children born to HCV-positive mothers are at risk for HCV infection. Researchers estimate there are 23,000 to 46,000 children in the United States with HCV infection.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently expanded the approval of Mavyret (glecaprevir and pibrentasvir) tablets for an eight-week duration for the treatment of adults and children ages 12 years and older or weighing at least 99 pounds who have chronic HCV genotype 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 infection and compensated cirrhosis and have not been previously treated for HCV (treatment-naïve).

Mavyret is now the first eight-week treatment approved for all treatment-naïve adult and certain pediatric patients with HCV genotypes 1-6 both without cirrhosis and with compensated cirrhosis. Standard treatment length for patients with compensated cirrhosis was previously 12 weeks or more.

For more information, see the full press release from the FDA here.

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