"We have entered into a strategic collaboration to improve hepatitis C diagnosis and treatment in India and elsewhere. The potential areas of focus for the new partnership include supporting work to improve the sensitivity of new HCV diagnostic tests."
Building diagnostic capacity and an enabling environment for HCV treatment scale-up; and collaborating on the development and evaluation of demonstration programmes that combine HCV testing and treatment for high-risk populations, including those with HIV co-infection," a joint statement issued here said.
"The new direct-acting antiviral therapy is effective, with few side effects and more affordable. Partnering with leading doctors in the field of liver disease, Cipla has been able to provide treatment to thousands of patients over the past year," the release said.
The new HCV therapies, which are relatively non-toxic compared to earlier interferon-based treatments, have a greater than 95 per cent cure rate over just 12-24 weeks of treatment. Older treatments took a year or more, and were much less effective.
Currently, HCV diagnosis requires two or more steps, including a rapid HCV screening test followed by a molecular test of HCV core antigen or HCV RNA. None of these tests are available in rapid formats at affordable prices, it said.
FIND is dedicated to accelerating the development, evaluation and delivery of high-quality, affordable diagnostic tests for poverty-related diseases.