Gilead Sciences receives draft NICE backing for Sovaldi

Gilead Sciences' clinically proven hepatitis C drug Sovaldi has been recommended in final draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

The provisional recommendation has endorsed the therapy in combination with pegylated interferon and ribavirin in patients with hepatitis C genotypes 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6, as well as in combination with ribavirin alone in patients with genotypes 2 and 3.

Clinical studies have demonstrated that Sovaldi can effectively cure the liver disease in more than 90 percent of patients following 12 weeks of treatment, meaning it offers benefits over current interferon-based treatments, which are long-lasting and have numerous side effects.

Carole Longson, director of the NICE Centre for Health Technology Evaluation, said: "New treatments, like sofosbuvir, can shorten the duration of interferon-based therapy and in some cases don't need to be taken with interferon at all."

If the recommendation is finalised, it means Sovaldi will be made available to NHS patients later this year. The drug was approved by the European Commission at the beginning of 2014.