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Some lawmakers and AIDS advocates
are worried about the potentially high price of a once-daily AIDS treatment
that US regulators are expected to approve soon. The price for Gilead Sciences
Inc.’s Quad will not be established until it gains Food and Drug Administration
approval; however, analysts have estimated the price will be $27,000-$34,000
per patient annually. In the spring, an FDA advisory panel recommended
approval, and the agency’s official decision is anticipated Monday.
Last week, 20 California lawmakers
urged the state Department of Public Health to use its leverage to obtain lower
prices for antiretroviral therapies for poor patients. Earlier this month, 14
congressional Democrats wrote to Gilead’s CEO, voicing concern about Quad possibly
being too costly.
Gilead worked out a freeze on Quad’s
price through 2013 for state AIDS Drugs Assistance Programs. Even so, some
people fear its cost could still prove too much for public treatment and
private insurance programs.
“Gilead now has a significant amount
of market share, so people are particularly focused on the way in which this is
priced,” said Dana Van Gorder, executive director of San Francisco-based
Project Inform, an advocacy organization. “We’re definitely hopeful this is never
priced as high as has been rumored.”
Quad could cost 38 percent more than
Gilead’s Atripla, the members of Congress noted. In clinical trials, Quad
proved slightly more effective than Atripla, which wholesales for $21,000 per
patient annually. For ADAPs, Atripla costs about $10,000 per patient yearly.
Gilead officials would not discuss
pricing ahead of FDA’s decision. However, spokesperson Erin Rau pledged in an
e-mail that the company is “committed to ensuring patients can access the
therapies we develop.” Gilead offers in-house co-pay and patient-assistance
programs, and other charitable efforts to expand access, Rau said.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
