Egypt has the right to produce the new hepatitis C medication (Sovaldi) without the need for having permission from the original producing company, the pharmacist syndicate said Wednesday.
The syndicate said this right emerged as Egypt was one of the countries that had a high spread of the epidemic, citing India after it signed an agreement to produce the medicine and export it to 91 other countries, secretary of the syndicate Wael Helal said.
Helal demanded conducting researches and studies on the new medicine before offering in market, noting studies that were made in the US included the two types of hepatitis C one and three, and few studies were conducted on the type four which is spread in Egypt.
Sovaldi costs USD 84,000 for a 12-week course of treatment and clinical studies indicated it has a 90% cure rate.