Hepatitis C elimination plan backed by High Court

NHS England’s plan to eliminate Hepatitis C in England by 2025 is on track after all aspects of a High Court challenge by AbbVie were dismissed.

The single largest medicines procurement for the NHS, worth almost £1 billion over five years, was launched in April last year but contract start dates had to be delayed by six months after legal action by AbbVie.

In the ruling, the judge rejected all challenges brought by the pharmaceutical company against NHS England’s smart procurement for the supply of curative, direct acting antiviral treatments and industry backed projects to find and treat people with the virus as quickly as possible. The High Court handed down the judgment decisively backing NHS England’s plans to eliminate Hepatitis C.

Public Health England has previously estimated that around 160,000 people are infected with Hepatitis C in England, although around half are unaware of their infection. Hepatitis C is a cancer-causing infectious disease, spread by contact with an infected person’s blood. The disease can now be successfully cured in weeks using new oral tablets.

John Stewart, director of specialised commissioning at NHS England, said: “Court cases such as this are a waste of NHS resources and taxpayers’ money, in this case resulting in an unavoidable delay in our efforts to tackle the threat of Hepatitis C, which disproportionately affects some of the most vulnerable and marginalised people in society. We remain committed to driving best value to help eliminate Hepatitis C in England by 2025 or sooner, and with this court case behind us we can now get on with the job.”