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2020-06-30 -Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Gilead sets pricing for coronavirus drug remdesivir, could cost over $3G
[FoxNews] Just days after getting conditional approval for its coronavirus drug remdesivir in Europe, Gilead has announced pricing for the U.S. and other developed countries, charging different rates for the U.S. federal government and private insurers.

In an open letter obtained by Fox News, Gilead Sciences CEO and Chairman Daniel O'Day said the price per vial of remdesivir would be $390 for government health care programs in developed countries, such as Medicare, equal to $2,340 per patient on a short, six-vial treatment.

For private insurance companies, the price would be $520 per vial, or $3,120 for a six-vial treatment.

"In normal circumstances, we would price a medicine according to the value it provides. The first results from the NIAID study in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 showed that remdesivir shortened time to recovery by an average of four days," O'Day wrote in the letter, explaining the pricing decisions. "Taking the example of the United States, earlier hospital discharge would result in hospital savings of approximately $12,000 per patient. Even just considering these immediate savings to the healthcare system alone, we can see the potential value that remdesivir provides. This is before we factor in the direct benefit to those patients who may have a shorter stay in the hospital."

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, O'Day said the U.S. was the only developed country to get two prices.

"Because of the way the U.S. system is set up and the discounts that government healthcare programs expect, the price for U.S. private insurance companies, will be $520 per vial," O'Day explained in his letter. "At the level we have priced remdesivir and with government programs in place, along with additional Gilead assistance as needed, we believe all patients will have access."

In a statement released on Monday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said that it has secured more than 500,000 treatment courses of the drug for American hospitals through September.

The developing world will see treatment "at a substantially lower cost," with O'Day citing "healthcare resources, infrastructure and economics" as the reasons. The company previously announced it had entered into agreements with generic drug makers to produce the drugs for developing countries.

Last week, Reuters reported Indian generic drugmakers could sell treatments for 5,000 to 6,000 rupees ($66.13-$79.35).

O'Day noted that by the end of 2020, Gilead expects to have spent more than $1 billion on research and development on the drug, with its commitment expected to last "through 2021 and beyond."

"As with many other aspects of this pandemic, we are in unchartered territory in pricing remdesivir," O'Day concluded Monday's letter. "Ultimately, we were guided by the need to do things differently. As the world continues to reel from the human, social and economic impact of this pandemic, we believe that pricing remdesivir well below value is the right and responsible thing to do."

Earlier this month, O'Day explained in another open letter that Gilead expects "to have more than two million remdesivir treatment courses manufactured by the end of the year and many millions more by 2021."

Recently, a Phase III trial of remdesivir showed that 65 percent of moderately ill patients had improvement after 11 days.

A separate study from the National Institutes of Health published in late May also showed the median time to recovery was 11 days for patients treated with remdesivir compared with 15 days for those who received the placebo.

Remdesvir is currently only approved for SARS-CoV-2 in Europe and Japan, but the FDA allowed emergency use approval of the experimental drug in early May.
Posted by Skidmark 2020-06-30 00:00|| || Front Page|| [7 views ]  Top

#1 And we are surprised?
Posted by Clem 2020-06-30 00:09||   2020-06-30 00:09|| Front Page Top

#2 I do (in response to #3)
Posted by Chris 2020-06-30 00:25||   2020-06-30 00:25|| Front Page Top

#3  O'Day wrote in the letter, explaining the pricing decisions. "Taking the example of the United States, earlier hospital discharge would result in hospital savings of approximately $12,000 per patient. Even just considering these immediate savings to the healthcare system alone, we can see the potential value that remdesivir provides.

So the recovered Georgia patient would conceivably have the potential to win $53 million dollars in the Georgia 'Mega Millions' Lottery. Therefore his Remdesivir treatment should be somewhere in the neighborhood of 10% of the potential winnings, or $5.3 million dollars.

Does everyone follow my Gilead logic and math? Big Pharma, don't ya just love'em ?
Posted by Besoeker 2020-06-30 00:26||   2020-06-30 00:26|| Front Page Top

#4 Hydroxychloroquine at 17 cents/pill is looking better and better.
Posted by Grineter Elmavirt6492 2020-06-30 00:57||   2020-06-30 00:57|| Front Page Top

#5 So, in exchange for shelling out $3,120 for a six-vial treatment, I could have a 65% chance of shortening my WuFlu recovery time from 15 days to 11 days?

Fantastic. What a deal!
Posted by Dave D. 2020-06-30 02:05||   2020-06-30 02:05|| Front Page Top

#6 If anybody needed a reason to understand why HCQ clinical tests were so bad.
Posted by g(r)omgoru 2020-06-30 03:35||   2020-06-30 03:35|| Front Page Top

#7 Gentlemen, I think we've discovered one of the shakedowns.
Posted by Bright Pebbles 2020-06-30 04:00||   2020-06-30 04:00|| Front Page Top

#8 I wonder how much Fauci will get.
Posted by Clem 2020-06-30 06:00||   2020-06-30 06:00|| Front Page Top

#9 Foreign Aid, Ethanol and 'Endless Wars', yet additional famous shakedowns.
Posted by Besoeker 2020-06-30 06:52||   2020-06-30 06:52|| Front Page Top

#10 Jesse Jackson is a pro at shakedowns. Is he doing any consulting work?

As for the 5ยข fee to cross the bridge, it is basically like each and every tax or fee. It never goes away. For example, I believe the Ohio Turnpike was, once it paid for itself, ultimately to be toll-free. LOL, yeah, right.
Posted by Clem 2020-06-30 06:59||   2020-06-30 06:59|| Front Page Top

#11 Same with PA Turnpike. There's still a tax on every bottle of liquor in PeeAye to defray the cost of the Johnstown Flood. Not the 1977 one, the 1889 one.
Posted by M. Murcek 2020-06-30 10:28||   2020-06-30 10:28|| Front Page Top

#12 160 million a year for the Golden Gate in tolls alone.
Posted by NoMoreBS 2020-06-30 11:38||   2020-06-30 11:38|| Front Page Top

#13 San Diego - Coronado bridge had the toll removed once the bonds were paid
Posted by Frank G 2020-06-30 11:44||   2020-06-30 11:44|| Front Page Top

#14 ^ Great views from the top of that bridge on a clear day.
Posted by Abu Uluque 2020-06-30 13:57||   2020-06-30 13:57|| Front Page Top

21:30 trailing wife
21:25 Skidmark
21:12 trailing wife
21:04 swksvolFF
20:11 Omomomble Glusoter5572
19:12 SteveS
18:02 swksvolFF
17:55 swksvolFF
17:45 Grom the Reflective
16:31 jpal
16:02 Beldar+Uneter3543
16:01 M. Murcek
15:59 Super Hose
15:43 Procopius2k
15:42 Procopius2k
15:39 49 Pan
15:37 M. Murcek
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15:28 Dale
15:28 Grom the Reflective
15:27 Dale
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