I wouldn't judge Telaprevir sales in Japan too harshly. When comparing to the other G7 markets, one needs to discount for the super slow adoption speed in Japan (driven by general physician conservatism as well as a regulatory environment that discourages prescribing within the first year post-launch). But obviously, Japan's very old HCV population does make it more likely that patients will get warehoused for an IFN-free regimen.
The approved regimen is 24 weeks of Sunvepra (f/k/a asunaprevir, a protease inhibitor) + Daklinza (f/k/a daclatasvir, an NS5A inhibitor). The indication is GT1b* patients who are either treatment-experienced or ineligible for interferon treatment; from a practical standpoint, this language is tantamount to approval for either treatment-experienced or treatment-naïve patients.
GILD and ABBV/ENTA each have regimens tailored for the Japanese market, which consists almost entirely of GT1b and GT2, so it won’t be long until BMY has serious competition for the HCV market in Japan. (GILD’s GT2 application in Japan has already been submitted: #msg-103797270.)
*Formally, the approval is for GT1 patients; however, in Japan GT1 almost always means GT1b.
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
