Gilead CEO John Martin |
Gilead Sciences' ($GILD) juggernaut, Sovaldi, keeps on rolling along despite the pushback from payers, politicians and health officials over the high price of the hepatitis C cure. It racked up another $3.5 billion sales in the second quarter, on top of the nearly $2.3 billion in the first, a sum that made it the fastest drug launch ever.
"Since December's launch, Sovaldi has been prescribed for more than 80,000 patients in the U.S. and
Those numbers propelled Gilead to
Of course, that is nothing compared to Sovaldi, which is knocking out those kinds of numbers in weeks. But resistance is mounting to its $84,000 price for a 12-week course of treatment, putting that momentum in question. Gilead is defending the price of the drug as a lifetime treatment that can allow patients, and so payers, to avoid the costs of dealing with liver failure, liver cancer, liver transplants and other expensive consequences of hep C infection.
But having to pay for it for millions of patients at the same time has states and private insurers scrambling, and some are telling doctors they won't pay. Texas, for example, won't pay for Sovaldi or Olysio, a companion drug from Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ).
- here's the announcement
Related Articles:
Pricey hep C drugs plus thrifty payers equal thorny consequences for patients
Gilead picks up blockbuster FDA blood cancer approvals for idelalisib
Riled by $84,000 Sovaldi, Senate panel digs into Gilead's Pharmasset buy
Why does Gilead's Sovaldi cost $84K in the U.S. and $57K in Britain?
Gilead's Sovaldi turns in outsize Q1 sales
It's official: Gilead's Sovaldi zooms past previous records with fastest-ever drug launch