These days, we're not surprised to open the paper and see another headline about the latest Epi-pen, Martin Shkreli, or yet another new drug with an exorbitant price tag that has no basis in reality. Since Sovaldi, a pill to treat Hepatitis C, hit the market at a price point of $1,000 (never mind that you could purchase it for $4 per pill in India), it has become acceptable for mass market therapies to suddenly become very expensive — often to the tune of $100,000 per therapy per patient per year.

So it might blow your mind to open up a newspaper (or these days, your web browser) and learn that a new, more effective drug is significantly cheaper and better, especially if it is a cure for Hepatitis C. 

Mavyret, manufactured by AbbVie is the first example of new brand name Hepatitis C drug that is actually better for patients and costs far less. Eighty percent of patients with Hep C can do an eight-week course, versus the alternative, manufactured by companies including Gilead and Merck, which requires a 12-week course.