According to the US medical regulatory authorities, the development of the drug, Victrelis, is the biggest progress in the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the last decade. Photo/FILE
By GATONYE GATHURA gathura@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Sunday, May 15 2011 at 21:39
Posted Sunday, May 15 2011 at 21:39
A Kenyan scientist is at the centre of a breakthrough in the treatment of hepatitis C.
The new drug was approved by the US Federal Drug Agency on Friday.
Dr George Njoroge, the director of medicinal chemistry at the Merck Research Laboratories in Kenilworth, New Jersey, US, was one of the researchers involved in development of the drug.
According to the US medical regulatory authorities, the development of the drug, Victrelis, is the biggest progress in the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the last decade.
“Victrelis is an important new advance for patients with hepatitis C,” said Dr Edward Cox of the US Federal Drug Agency in a statement issued last Friday.
Dr Cox continued: “This new medication provides an effective treatment for a serious disease, and offers a greater chance of cure for some patients’ hepatitis C infection compared to currently available therapy.”
The product will be marketed by Merck & Co.
Telling of the challenges faced in modern drug discovery in an earlier paper, Dr Njoroge, who obtained a degree in chemistry at the University of Nairobi in 1979, said it was a complex process.
The World Health Organisation says people can get the hepatitis C virus in a number of ways, including exposure to blood that is infected with the virus, being born to a mother with HCV, sharing a needle, having sex with an infected person, sharing personal items such as razor and toothbrush with someone who is infected or using unsterilised piercing tools.
After the initial infection, most people develop a chronic condition which in some people develops to cirrhosis of the liver over many years.
Cirrhosis can lead to liver damage with complications such as bleeding, jaundice, fluid accumulation in abdomen, infections, or liver cancer.
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