Breaking The Bank: Sovaldi And The Cost-Innovation Paradox In The US Healthcare System

Breaking The Bank: Sovaldi And The Cost-Innovation Paradox In The US Healthcare System
Nathan Sadeghi-Nejad  
Contributor

Last week, three senior members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee caused quite a kerfuffle in the investment community by sending biotech giant Gilead Sciences a letter demanding management justify the $84,000 price tag for Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), a recently-approved treatment for chronic hepatitis C (HCV)........

By any objective metric, Sovaldi is a good value. The drug costs less on an absolute basis than Incivek (~$100,000 per year), which is reimbursed without question, and is an even better deal if one applies a “cost per cure” methodology (A recent Mt. Sinai study shows a $189,000 cost per cure for Incivek-containing regimens.) Moreover, remember that the government pays nowhere near list price; Medicaid receives a mandatory 23.1% discount on branded drug prices (Sovaldi is covered by privately-administered Medicare Part D plans for patients over 65 years old)......

Full story: Forbes

Related:
February Updates 

Reducing the cost of new hepatitis C drugs
Sovaldi Investigation Finds Revenue-Driven Pricing Strategy Behind $84,000 Hepatitis Drug
Check out an index of articles pointing the reader to the current controversy over the high price of Sovaldi, Harvoni (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir) and AbbVie Viekira Pak.