Hep C Discussion Forum

I'm  looking at it from an insurance standpoint, 1 pill at 95k for 12 weeks vs in my case 2 pills at like 160k for 12 wks is a substantially different amount considering the cure rates, and potential long term care costs of a failed tx, or sx causing other problems, or even the reduction of drop out rates that could lead to other more serious illnesses like ESLD and need for transplant and it's related costs.

So yes I understand the expense and greed factors of pharma, but as far as tx goes..... this really is an overall reduction of tx cost to treat, and if it turns out to be as successful as we all hope it will be, I think in the long run much more money will be saved.

Just trying to see a silver lining on this.

Well if the one pill is 95k for tx,  that's 50 or 60 k less than the S/O combo so although it sounds like more. .... its actually less isn't it? 

It looks like Mike copied the text.  Thanks Mike and Tig for your efforts.  No big deal, just more Gilead thrashing, which we should be seeing plenty more of.   I especially liked the verbal smack-down  Michael Weinstein gave Gilead, though.  

I don't see a way to link anything from market watch.com

I can post a prt scr of the graph and the text:

LOS ANGELES (Marke****ch)Gilead Sciences Inc. on Friday won regulatory approval for a follow-on medication to its controversial hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, and this new treatment surpasses its predecessors $1,000-a-day price tag.

The newest drug, Harvoni, is used to treat patients afflicted with what is known as Genotype 1 hepatitis C, considered the most difficult to treat and the most common in the U.S. Harvoni combines Sovaldi with a drug known as Ledipasvir and has proved effective in 94% to 99% of patients.

Gilead GILD, -0.04%  posted pricing on the new drug after the U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration granted approval, and said Harvoni will cost $63,000 for an eight-week regimen, and $94,500 for 12 weeks.

Sovaldi, used to treat other genotypes of hepatitis C infection, costs $84,000 for a 12-week regimen, or slightly less than $1,000 a day. Harvonis price tag puts it at roughly $1,050 per pill whether its for eight weeks or 12.

The pricing, which some say ends up being cheaper and more effective than previous treatments, still incurred the wrath of those who are trying to keep a lid on drug prices.

Gilead had an opportunity to demonstrate that it wants to be part of the affordability solution, but the company still seems to believe it has a blank check, said Brendan Buck, spokesman for the trade group Americas Health Insurance plans, in a statement. Our health care system has long relied upon a careful balance between affordability and rewarding innovation, and this pricing topples it.

With Harvoni, Gilead may finally pop the balloon of unsustainable drug pricing with the public and payers with pricing like this, said Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. It leads the industry-wide practice of gouging cash-strapped government programs like Medicaid, Medicare and [drug-assistance programs] as well as private insurers, as the $94,500 price of Harvoni shows.There is a breaking point coming on this, and Gilead is apparently none too proud to lead the way.

Sovaldi, the first of a new generation of highly effective hepatitis C treatments, has drawn the wrath of insurers and others in the medical community because of its high price tag. The drug has catapulted Gileads margins into the stratosphere as the company is reaping the benefits of being first to market. Rivals are expected to start offering competing products by years end.

Shares of Gilead, down most of Friday morning, started climbing in afternoon trading on the news, but ended the day down 2% to $103.73 as the market underwent a sell-off. A year ago, Gilead shares were in the $60 range.

Analyst Michael Yee of RBC Capital Markets expects the drug will help boost Gileads fortunes even more.

We expect [Gilead] to continue higher with this green light as scripts should bounce-back in [the fourth quarter] and 2015 [hepatitis C] estimates are conservative, in our view, Yee said in a note to clients.

Hepatitis C comes in six different genotypes with each having several subcategories. Genotype 1 afflicts 75% of all hepatitis C patients with 20% to 25% suffering from Genotype 2. The rest are in the U.S. in small numbers but are more prevalent overseas. Genotype 4 often is found in Africa and 6 is found in Asia.

EDIT: Heck, it won't even accept .img code from market watch.

-- Edited by wmlj1960 on Saturday 11th of October 2014 12:25:40 AM

-- Edited by wmlj1960 on Saturday 11th of October 2014 12:28:24 AM

Hey Tig

Like you said, "it's worth more than its weight in Gold"

We see what have became of the drug pushers from the 60's, and 70's

matt

Hey All

Try this link to the New York Times 

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/11/business/harvoni-a-hepatitis-c-drug-from-gilead-wins-fda-approval.html

Or Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2014/10/10/as-hepatitis-pill-harvoni-joins-sovaldi-states-erect-medicaid-hurdles/

matt

-- Edited by Matt Chris on Friday 10th of October 2014 11:34:31 PM

Isis,

Can you repost your link in an abbreviated manner. Part of the name won't pass our censoring software. Thanks!

Tig