Two Bristol-Myers Squibb drugs approved by Scottish Medicines Consortium

The Scottish Medicines Consortium has approved two new treatments, one for skin cancer and one for hepatitis C.

Daklinza (daclatasvir), manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), has been accepted by the SMC for adult patients with chronic hepatitis C with significant fibrosis or compensated cirrhosis, both of which represent significant liver damage.

It is used in combination with other agents, including sofosbuvir, to treat patients with hepatitis C genotypes 1, 3 and 4, which represents more than 94% of cases in Scotland. This will allow eligible patients in Scotland to have access to a potentially curative oral treatment regimen that does not contain interferon, which is a standard of care commonly associated with adverse events such as flu-life symptoms.