Pakistan’s Ministry of Health and the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) held a high-level meeting on combating the hepatitis delta virus (HDV), with representatives from a leading Chinese pharmaceutical company participating, officials said.
The meeting chaired by Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal, reviewed measures to address the rapidly spreading hepatitis delta virus in Pakistan. The Chinese company briefed officials on progress of its hepatitis delta therapy (HH-003), a drug that has completed Phase II international clinical trials and received a breakthrough therapy designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Minister Kamal highlighted that hepatitis delta is a serious liver disease that occurs only in individuals already infected with hepatitis B. He warned that more than one million people in Pakistan are affected, and without timely diagnosis and treatment, the virus can lead to liver cancer.
He added that around 20 percent of hepatitis B patients in Pakistan are at risk of co-infection with hepatitis delta. The government is taking steps to ensure the therapy is affordable and sustainably available nationwide.