The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has expanded the use of Gilead Sciences Inc.'s drug, Harvoni, to some hepatitis C patients in the advanced stage of cirrhosis, including those who have undergone a liver transplant, reports Reuters.
Chronic hepatitis C patients often develop scarring and poor liver function also known as cirrhosis, which can lead to complications such as bleeding, jaundice, fluid accumulation in the abdomen and liver cancer.
According to the report, the once-daily pill—used in combination with antiviral ribavirin—was also approved to treat gentotype 1 and 4 liver transplant recipients with compensated cirrhosis, a slightly less severe form of the condition.