WHO adds HCV, cancer drugs to essential medicines list

The World Health Organization added 36 treatments to its Sovaldi sofosbuvir and Harvoni ledipasvir/sofosbuvir from Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), as well as Viekira Pak ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir plus dasabuvir from AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV). WHO noted that the high prices of HCV treatments make them unaffordable and inaccessible to most patients.

The agency also added 16 cancer treatments, including Herceptin trastuzumab from Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY) to treat HER2-positive breast cancer, as well as five new treatments for tuberculosis. ...