AbbVie Characterizes Evolving HCV Patient Landscape in US Using Comprehensive Dataset

AbbVie, a research-based global biopharmaceutical company, announced it will present data from two studies that assessed HCV screening and diagnosis practices and linkage to care in the United States (US) at The Liver Meeting 2018, the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD), in San Francisco. The two studies, which highlight gaps in the care cascade, are part of a comprehensive dataset that can now be accessed through MappingHepC.com, a new interactive online resource that features national and state-level data on HCV screening, diagnosis and treatment. “Until now, the HCV patient landscape has been poorly understood, with out-of-date data sources and under-reporting of HCV infections,” said Sammy Saab, M.D., David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA.  “The availability of this epidemiology data provides a clearer picture of where the most concentrated populations of people with HCV are located, which is a crucial step towards eliminating the virus in the US.”

To address the need for more accurate HCV patient landscape data, AbbVie analyzed two large national laboratory datasets including over 17 million HCV antibody tests and 1.5 million HCV RNA tests in US patients between 2013 and 2016. Unlike other sources for national HCV estimates, MappingHepC.com relies on actual patient HCV antibody and confirmatory RNA test results. The findings of AbbVie’s analysis include:

• Washington D.C. and West Virginia had the highest number of HCV RNA positive patients per 100,000 population in 2016.
• West Virginia and Kentucky had the highest percentage of HCV RNA positive patients between the ages of 30-52 in 2016.

“As a leader in the fight against chronic liver disease, we strive to provide healthcare professionals with the most current education and information on chronic liver disease,” said Marcelo Kugelmas MD, Board of Trustees Member of the Chronic Liver Disease Foundation. “MappingHepC.com will help physicians navigate the HCV landscape, understand the epidemiology of their specific geographic area and hopefully, be a resource for action towards the elimination of HCV.” HCV is the most common chronic infectious disease in the US with an estimated 3.4 million people infected. While highly-effective treatments are available for the majority of patients today, addressing the societal and behavioral barriers that prevent people with HCV from accessing treatment is the biggest challenge to eliminating the disease.

“We are excited to provide the HCV community with up-to-date information on the evolving HCV landscape,” said Vipan Sood, vice president, Health Economics and Outcomes Research, AbbVie. “The accessibility of this data will allow stakeholders to focus resources and expertise to their specific communities and to come together to maximize our efforts.” Complementing the launch of the website, two AASLD abstracts from the same dataset highlight gaps in the care cascade. Data show that while overall rates of HCV screening are improving, there is an increase in the number of young adults from 2013-2016, specifically between the ages of 18 – 39 years old, who were antibody positive (2.8-3.9 percent). In addition, there was a decline in the rate of antibody positive baby boomers between the ages of 48-71 years (9.1-8.1 percent). When patients were examined longitudinally in a second study, differences persisted with young adults less likely to see an HCV specialist (9.2 percent vs 23.4 percent) and receive treatment (22.6 percent vs 32 percent) than baby boomers. The website will be updated in 2019 to include information from the two AASLD abstracts. – Medical Buyer Bureau