$1,000 a Pill for Hepatitis C Treatment - Only in America!!!

[WhiskeyGirl]

Why are American's expected to provide all the profits?  Pay thousands for one pill while other nations pay $2,000 for an entire course of treatment?  American's pay $84,000?

India is a wealthy country with a booming economy...

"Gilead, local generic players in talks to bring hepatitis C drug into India"

On how the drug would be priced, Alton said the imported and locally-made versions would be pegged lower than the current standard of care with existing generic products, estimated at $2,500 (around ₹1.5 lakh) for six months. 

Gilead proposes to peg its imported branded product at about $2,000, he indicated, adding discussions were under way with patient-groups before the price is finalised. “We’ll be substantially less than that (current standards of care), and we’ll be more effective, less toxic and easier to use and without side-effects… We leave it up to the Indian companies to bring the price down – should they choose to do that,” he added.

You need three or more companies to compete against each other to truly get the cost down, and “so, we’ll be working probably with three-to-five different companies”, he said. In the US, Gilead’s drug is priced at $84,000 for 12 weeks.

Gilead’s soon-to-be sealed deal will include royalty payments and cover about 60 low and middle-income countries, he said, adding details were discussed during their latest visit to India.

read more here - http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/gilead-local-generic-players-in-talks-to-bring-hepatitis-c-drug-into-india/article5649841.ece

[WhiskeyGirl]

Old science with a known compound?

Malpani thinks the California company's hurry to sign licensing agreements with Indian generic drugmakers has a lot to do with a legal challenge filed last November against Gilead's patent application for Solvadi, known generically as sofosbuvir.

The nonprofit group I-MAK, or the Initiative for Medicines, Access and Knowledge, filed the patent challenge. And it characterizes Solvadi as based on "old science" with "a known compound." Thus, I-MAK asserts, the drug does not meet India's stringent requirements for patentability.

- Emphasis added

read more here - http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/02/06/272519954/maker-of-1-000-hepatitis-c-pill-looks-to-cut-its-cost-overseas