Expensive new hepatitis C drugs are worth the investment
The debate over the high price of new Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) drugs has focused on the price per pill, and not the total cost to the health care system, according to a new Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) commentary published today.
One of the highest price drugs is Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) from US biotech major Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD). CVS Caremark (NYSE: CVS) chief medical officer Troyen Brennan and chief scientific officer William Shrank write: “Perhaps the controversy about sofosbuvir is really about the increasing total cost of specialty medications, considering both cost and prevalence of treatment targets. While a daily oral medication that costs $1,000 per pill gains attention, the more important issue is the number of people eligible for treatment. Sofosbuvir is not really a per-unit cost outlier, but is a 'total cost' outlier because of its high cost and very large population eligible for treatment - a beacon for costs of specialty medications generally.”
Sovaldi cost analyzed
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