The ADAP Crisis Task Force has brokered a deal between AbbVie and AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) across the United States to provide discounted hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment to any HCV-positive person also living with HIV who needs it, according to a press release from the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD).

Under the agreement, ADAP clients will have much cheaper access to AbbVie’s Viekira Pak, a new combination of antiviral agents (ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir; dasabuvir). The drug combo boasts up to 92 percent cure rates among HIV/HCV co-infected patients in just 12 weeks of treatment.

AbbVie has been working with the ADAP task force since 2003, offering discounts on several of its HIV drugs for low-income and uninsured individuals. However, it’s important to note that because of the structure of Ryan White programs, ADAPs can only provide Viekira Pak discounts to HIV-positive people, not those monoinfected with hep C.

Health officials estimate that up to 30 percent of people living with HIV in the United States are also living with hep C. Having HIV can speed up the progression of liver disease in coinfected people, even if they experience no symptoms.