France negotiates lowest price in Europe for Gilead's Sovaldi

21 November 2014

The discount negotiated by the French government on hepatitis C drug Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), produced by US biotech major Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD), makes it the ‘lowest price in Europe,’ according to the country’s health ministry.

The price has been fixed at 13,667 euros ($17,138) per 28-tablet pack, making it 500 euros lower than the price originally proposed. A 12-week course of treatment will stand at 41,000 euros, a saving of 15,000 euros on the initial offer of 56,000 euros. Even the original price was considerably cheaper than the $84,000 it costs in the USA for a standard course of treatment. Sovaldi is to be fully-reimbursable under health funding schemes.

The drug generated sales of $2.8 billion in the third quarter of this year, and is approved to treat genotypes 1, 2, 3, and 4 of chronic hepatitis C in combination with ribavirin and occasionally peginterferon alfa in the USA.

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