April 28, 2015 Note: Distributing the New York Times article below is not an endorsement for President Obama’s proposed initiative. New York Times: Obama Proposes That Medicare Be Given the Right to Negotiate the Cost of Drugs “Five years after passage of the Affordable Care Act, drug prices are emerging again as a political issue. On a […]
Are Skyrocketing Drug Prices Really Needed for Innovation? Amgen’s earnings report today indicates that R&D costs fell 14% while drug prices continue to climb. Enbrel’s price increased 19% while the price of Neulasta continued to climb as well. “The pharmaceutical industry’s argument about needing high prices to fund innovation through R&D fall flat. It’s clear there […]
This morning, the National Journal published an article regarding an increase in public concern over the high cost of prescription drugs. The article references CSRxP’s white paper, “Specialty Drug Hyperinflation: The Risk to Patients and the Health Care System.”
The American College of Physicians, the largest medical-specialty organization and second-largest physician group in the United States, has joined the Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP), a broad-based coalition working for solutions to skyrocketing prescription medicine prices.
The National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) issued a letter to Congress last month that included a variety of interesting proposals but also raised the specter of direct or indirect price controls for the very high-priced Hepatitis drugs that are devastating state Medicaid budgets.
What the study should have asked is whether or not the price Gilead set for the therapy is appropriate for all patients–even asymptomatic patients–and whether or not such a large portion of potential societal value should accrue to one company.
On the day that Gilead introduced its new $94,500 hepatitis C drug, Harvoni, Gilead Vice President of Investor Relations Patrick O’Brien went into full spin mode, telling Politico (subscription required) that Harvoni is a bargain compared to Gilead’s other hep C drug, the $84,000 Sovaldi.
Gilead should be commended for taking action to make their best-selling treatment for Hepatitis C, Sovaldi, available to more people around the world. In India, they’ve struck licensing agreements with generic firms to produce the product for pennies on the dollar. Unfortunately, Gilead’s largess is being funded largely on the backs of American families.
Yesterday’s blockbuster earnings announcement from Gilead underscores how much room the drug manufacturer has to lower the price of its Hepatitis C drug Sovaldi. In fact, nearly all of Gilead’s profits came from its U.S. sales of Sovaldi. The $3.48 billion that Gilead earned from sales of Sovaldi in the second quarter is only going […]
Statement from the National Coalition on Health Care’s President and CEO John Rother on the latest quarterly earnings report from Gilead Sciences, Inc., manufacturer of the hepatitis C drug Sovaldi: “It’s clear Gilead has plenty of room to reduce the $1000 per pill price in order to ensure patients have access to this critical […]