Glossary
Doctor shorthand for 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks and 8 weeks respectively (52 weeks in a year - get it?)
Area Under the Curve - A pharmacokinetic parameter that looks at the concentration of a medicine in the blood over time
Being speared through the liver by a radiologist with a large needle and then charged for the privilege - used to determine liver cirrhosis and definitive
Red stuff - A mixture of water, salt, proteins like albumin, red cells, white cells, and platelets
Extensive fibrosis of the liver often leading to liver failure and or HepatoCellular Carcinoma
The number of seconds it takes blood to coagulate - Only used in primitive settings where INR can not be measured
A number of proteins produced by the liver and present in the blood - They function in a cascade of reactions that stops bleeding
A PR stunt giving nearly dead patients free treatment (often too late to make a difference) possibly on the basis they were not going to be paying customers either way
A chemical in the body that comes from muscle and is excreted by the kidneys so the levels are low when the kidneys are working well, and higher in renal failure - Low is good, high is bad
Computed Tomography - A special type of Xray machine that slices through you and can look at the liver, kidneys and all your other internal parts
estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate - a measure of kidney function >60 is good, <60 is bad, <30 is really bad, <15 is really really bad
An inactive part of a tablet - Excipients help stabilise the API in a tablet, help the tablet hold together, and also help it fall apart in your body
A special type of ultrasound to assess fibrosis - 13 kPa marks the non cirrhosis / cirrhosis point
An inactive substance added to and API to make filling capsules (by volume) easier. Cellulose and lactose are commonly used.
The Pharmaceutical company that purchased the Sofosbuvir patent from Pharmasset and charge very high prices
A fictional character from the Movie Wall Street famed for his catchphrase “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies and cuts through to the essence of the evolutionary spirit.”
International Normalised Ratio - A measure of how well the blood coagulates - Normally 0.9-1.1 and elevated in liver failure - Calculated from Prothrombin Time (PT) to correct for test differences
1000 = 10*10*10 = 10^3 = log 3 - a convenient way to talk about viral load so 1,000,000 is log 6 (count the zeros) and 100,000 is log 5 etc
For each 1 unit log drop the viral load has fallen by a factor of 10 ie 1,000,000 to 1000 would be a 3 log drop (10^6 to 10^3)
A chemical analysis technique that can find extremely accurate molecular weights to help identify molecules
Model of End-Stage Liver Disease, a predictor of 3 month mortality often used to determine compassionate access
A big machine that goes ping, crash bang wallop and can image the liver - a bit like CT or Ultrasound
Changes to the genetic code of an organism, for HCV mutations that provision resistance are a worry
The behaviour of chemicals that do nifty things to people when injected or ingested including things like AUC, Cmax, t 1/2
A pressure increase in the portal vein typically caused by cirrhosis and that leads to varices
Sustained Virological Response (ie undetectable viral RNA) measured in weeks since stopping treatment
Low platelets in blood - normally 150-450, less than 50 is bad, less then 10 is extremely bad
Enlarged veins where the oesophagus (food pipe) joins the stomach and cause by portal hypertension. Like piles/haemorrhoids around you anus.
The simplest self replicating unit of genetic code - typically some container proteins, a few helper proteins, and a single bit of RNA or DNA. Incapable of replication without help from a complete cell from which it in effect hijacks the full genetic machinery to make more mini-me copies of itself, often killing the host cell in the process.
Refers to Government's taking a view that non dying HCV patients can stay sick until DAA prices fall out of an alternate universe and make down into the pricing stratosphere.
