Sovaldi - When ‘miracle’ cures, cost collide

Demand for expensive hepatitis C drug strains insurers

When ‘miracle’ cures, cost collide

By Robert Weisman | Globe Staff June 01, 2014

“My virus is now undetectable,” said Barnstable resident Laurel Welch, 65, a retired nurse who contracted hepatitis C through contact with contaminated blood 25 years ago and began taking Sovaldi in January. “I was so sick for so long. Now I’ve got a new life.”

Sovaldi, sold by California-based Gilead Sciences Inc., may also represent the future of cutting-edge drugs in another way: At $1,000 a pill and $84,000 for a full treatment regimen — plus the cost of companion medicines — it’s straining the finances of insurance companies.

Demand for Sovaldi is growing so fast that insurers have begun restricting who can immediately get it, to the dismay of patients.

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Related: Reducing the cost of new hepatitis C drugs 
An index of articles pointing the reader to current information and controversy over the high price of Solvadi:
The coming epidemic..
A medical breakthrough actually worth paying for....
Why does Gilead's Sovaldi cost $84K in the U.S. and $57K in Britain?
At $1,000 per pill, new Hepatitis C drug has insurers and CCOs scratching their heads...
The Price is Right: New Hepatitis C Drug is Really a Priceless Breakthrough....
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