US lawmakers question price of Gilead’s Sovaldi
Three leading US Congressmen have written to John Martin, chief executive of US biotech firm Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD), raising questions about the pricing of the firm’s recently-approved hepatitis C treatment, Sovaldi (sofosbuvir). The shares lost as much as 6% of their value on Friday as a result of this news.
Sovaldi is priced at $84 000 for a 12-week treatment course. Acknowledging that drug is seen as a breakthrough in the treatment of the serious liver disease, the members of the US House Energy & Commerce committee say: "Our concern is that a treatment will not cure patients if they cannot afford it," in a letter to Dr Martin.
The letter cited a Reuters report noting that doctors are combining Sovaldi with a newly approved drug Olysio (simeprevir) from Johnson & Johnson, raising the cost of treatment to $150,000.
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