QUICK READ: Those of us in the industry know that ANY information that comes from Gilead should be questioned. There was only one objective of these trails and that was to increase sales of Remdesivir.
Gilead
QUICK READ: Via the FT “Gilead Sciences has come under fire for securing a de facto monopoly in the US for an experimental drug seen as a potential coronavirus treatment, with activists accusing the US drugmaker of “morbid calculus” and “the most blatant abuse of the orphan drug act”. This company is a stain on the industry.
- A month’s supply of Truvada costs roughly $6 to make and sells for more than $1,600 in the United States.
- Truvada was developed largely with taxpayer dollars.
- Gilead has earned $36.2 billion on Truvada since 2004, according to its annual reports.
- Executives at Gilead are leaving a sinking ship.
- Sales of a breakthrough drug they purchased through the acquisition of Kite Pharma have failed to match expectations.
- Gilead charges thousands of dollars for a drug for their AIDS drug, but competition is creeping in.
- Since Truvada was approved for HIV prevention six years ago, its average wholesale price has increased by about 45 percent.
- Without more drugs to buy Gilead’s stock has been declining.
According to the CEO of Gilead “the approval of a drug is the culmination of many years of hard work… supported throughout by major investments with no guarantee of return”. However, in Gilead’s case, that’s an outright lie.
KEY TAKEAWAY:Gilead, which recently acquired Kite Pharma in an all cash deal, said the list price for Yescarta, which is to be administered just once to each patient, would be $373,000. The cost is supposed to make us feel good because the price is well below that of the first drug in this new class such as $475,000 for Novartis’s Kymriah.
KEY TAKEAWAY: Pharma companies aren’t monolithic buildings up on a hill; they are made up of people who determine pricing and policies. How do you think the people at Gilead feel when they read that their company put profit ahead of patients?