Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Senate Report Says Hep C Drug Maker Sought To Maximize Profits Despite Costs To Patients
Gilead Sciences Inc. knew the $1,000-a-pill launch price for its hepatitis treatment would be out of reach for many patients and cause extraordinary problems for government health programs, according to a U.S. Senate report released Tuesday. The 144-page committee report adds to a chorus of criticism of escalating drug prices from patients, doctors, insurers and some presidential candidates. U.S. congressional committees also have opened inquiries into drug-pricing practices by other companies including Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., and House Democrats have formed a drug-pricing task force to explore ways to reduce costs. (Loftus, 12/1)
In a statement, Gilead said it disagreed with the reports conclusions. Gilead stock was down slightly most of the day Tuesday, as broader financial markets posted solid gains. The companys first breakthrough drug, Sovaldi, was priced at $1,000 per pill, or $84,000 for a course of treatment. Gilead has since introduced a more expensive, next-generation pill called Harvoni, highly effective and simpler for patients to use. Its priced at $94,500 for a course of treatment. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 12/1)
Gilead Sciences executives were acutely aware in 2013 that their plan to charge an exorbitantly high price for a powerful new hepatitis C drug would spark public outrage, but they pursued the profit-driven strategy anyway, according to a Senate Finance Committee investigation report released Tuesday. "Let's not fold to advocacy pressure in 2014," Kevin Young, Gilead's executive vice president for commercial operations, wrote in an internal email. Lets hold our position whatever competitors do or whatever the headlines." (Johnson and Dennis, 12/1)
The Senate report paints a picture of a drug that burdened state and federal health insurance plans. "For example, state Medicaid programs nationwide spent $1.3 billion before rebates on the drug in 2014. Even with that expenditure, less than 2.4 percent of the roughly 700,000 Medicaid enrollees with Hepatitis C were treated with Sovaldi," the report reads. Hepatitis C affects about 3.2 million Americans, killing more than 15,000 each year, mostly from illnesses such as cirrhosis and liver cancer. (Fox, 12/1)
Meanwhile, another drug maker that dramatically raised prices recently may be getting some cut-rate competition -
Patients who suffer from the rare infection toxoplasmosis got some help Tuesday when the drug benefits manager Express Scripts offered to sell a treatment for a dollar a pill. The drug is similar to Daraprim, sold by Turing Pharmaceuticals for $750 a pill. (Dahler, 12/1)
The price of prescription drugs has become something of a flashpoint in recent weeks, due in no small part to something that the company Turing Pharmaceuticals did, when it hiked the price of Daraprim, a pill often used by HIV patients and pregnant women, from $13.50 to $750 a dose. But now Express Scripts, which purchases drugs for insurers and large employers, will work with a different pharmaceutical firm, Imprimis, to make a generic version of that drug for a dollar a pill. (Gorenstein, 12/1)
