Is Mavyret better than Harvoni?

Mavyret and Harvoni are both direct-acting antiviral therapies for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Mavyret contains glecaprevir and pibrentasvir and is available in the form of tablets or oral pellets. Harvoni also comes in the form of tablets and oral pellets and contains ledipasvir and sofosbuvir.

Mavyret is reported to have some advantages over Harvoni including the number of HCV genotypes it covers, the length of treatment required, and the cost of a course of treatment.

Mavyret is approved to treat chronic HCV genotypes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 infection in patients without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis (Child-Pugh A), whereas Harvoni is only approved to treat genotypes 1, 4, 5, or 6.

In addition, Mavyret is typically given for only 8 weeks, whereas Harvoni is given for 12 weeks.

Another advantage of Mavyret is the price. When Mavyret was first approved in 2017, AbbVie, which makes the drug, opted for a pricing strategy that made it cheaper than other options and which quickly allowed it to grow its market share.

The cost of Mavyret without discounts is reported to cost from $27,580.60 for an 8 week supply, whereas a 12 week supply of Harvoni costs from $US98,686.50 without discounts. An authorised generic version of Harvoni is also available and costs from $US30,268.50.