The 12-week, $84,000 Hepatitis C Treatment...

[Earth_First]

John C. Martin, the chief executive officer of Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD), has become a billionaire on the prospects of a powerful new hepatitis C drug that’s attracting scrutiny from payers and activists over its $1,000 per pill price tag.

Gilead’s drug, Sovaldi, was approved in December, and is among the first of a new wave of hepatitis C treatments that can cure the liver disease faster and more reliably than previous drugs. Sovaldi, which costs $84,000 for a 12-week course of treatment, is expected to produce $4.2 billion in revenue this year, rising to $8.1 billion in 2015, according to the average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

At least half of Gilead’s $127 billion market value is attributable to expectations for its hepatitis C drugs, according to Porges. He said the company’s hepatitis C drugs could generate $16 billion in sales in 2016.

Sovaldi “is the poster child for everything that is wrong with drug prices,” Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Los Angeles, said in a phone interview. Sovaldi’s price will mean that some people won’t get access to the treatment, he said. He has submitted a shareholder resolution to tie executive compensation at Gilead to the affordability of its medicines.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-03/gilead-ceo-becomes-billionaire-on-84-000-hepatitis-drug.html?cmpid=yhoo

[bobja]

1. Yup!

Mrs. Bobja is on her fourth week taking Sovaldi. The drug apparently is doing a good job of killing off the Hep C virus already. Due to her genome type, she has to take one pill a day for 24 weeks. So at $1000 per pill, that's costing $168,000 for the treatment! Thankfully she is on MediCal so her prescription is only $1.10 per month for 28 pills. But guess who's really paying for it. There's got to be a better way.

[Earth_First]

2. That's fantastic that it is working for your significant other...

However, as you said: "There's got to be a better way."

[Comrade Grumpy]

3. Nationalize the pharmaceutical companies. n/t

[Catherina]

4. +1 n/t

[xiamiam]

9. +1

nice to see you here Catherina. I missed your informative posts.

[MineralMan]

5. Given the growing number of Hepatitis C

infections, the price is outrageous and prohibitive. Most people suffering from it will not be covered by this treatment, I'm sure.

It's so common in the injectable drug users in our urban areas, and few of them have real access to medical care.

One more reason to call for some sort of confiscatory access to medications like this. We need single payer that can control such greed from pharmaceutical companies.

[AgingAmerican]

6. That is a $15,000 dollar discount

When I had my hep C triple therapy treatment a couple years ago, it cost $1000 more than I originally paid for my house. We paid $99,000 back in the 90s and the treatment cost $100,000.

It really is disgusting.

[Vashta Nerada]

7. Yay Capitalism!

It's absolutely disgusting that a pill can cost more than $1,000.

[jsr]

8. Recommend

[sorefeet]

10. Hep C will turn in to liver

cancer if not treated. My brother Pinkie died from it at 54 years old.