Posted: 4/26/2014 1:43:37 PM EDT
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I've been looking at cost data on this drug at work. It basically cures hep C, and costs around 90k for a course of treatment.
Crazy money flowing to the pharm company on this one: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/04/23/306236511/costly-hepatitis-c-pill-shreds-drug-industry-sales-record ... The launch of Sovaldi, the $1,000-a-day pill for hepatitis C, is shaping up as the most successful ever. The Food and Drug Administration approved the pill in December. And then Gilead Sciences was off to the races. The company said it sold $2.27 billion worth of Sovaldi in the quarter that ended March 31. $2.27 billion! The boffo number beat Wall Street's estimate for the quarter by more than $1 billion. Sovaldi is the first hepatitis C pill that doesn't have to be accompanied by interferon for some types of hepatitis. Sovaldi has been found to be remarkably effective, essentially curing 90 percent or more patients with a common form of hepatitis C in 12 weeks. ... Another article has this fun stat: http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/express-scripts-assembling-anti-sovaldi-coalition-shut-out-gilead-hep-c-dru/2014-04-08 Millions of patients have hepatitis C. Unlike rare disease meds and expensive cancer treatments, Sovaldi is essentially a mass-market drug. The cost of treating that group of patients will be huge. If every patient was treated with Sovaldi, Miller says, that would cost $300 billion, more than the U.S. now spends on all prescription meds. |