Truvada manufacturer Gilead Sciences has set its price for a drug being tested as a treatment for COVID-19, and LGBTQ activists are not having it.
This Monday, June 29, Gilead chairman and CEO Daniel Day released a lengthy statement about Remdesivir, “the first antiviral to have demonstrated patient improvement in clinical trials for COVID-19.” Though the promising treatment could save lives as the coronavirus continues to spread in certain areas across the country, it won’t be cheap: If Day gets his way, a five-day course of Remdesivir will cost a staggering $3,120 per patient with private insurance in the U.S.
“At the level we have priced Remdesivir and with government programs in place, along with additional Gilead assistance as needed, we believe all patients will have access,” Day wrote.
It’s not the first time Gilead has priced its pharmaceuticals absurdly high. As NewNowNext previously reported, the company patented Truvada, the brand-name version of Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a preventative drug that drastically increases the risk of new HIV infections when used properly. After years of pressure from HIV/AIDS activists, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sued Gilead last fall, alleging that the company raked in billions in profit off a drug created through taxpayer-funded medical research with no return to taxpayers.
After news of Remdesivir’s pricing broke, Twitter users denounced Gilead for “price-gouging” amid a global pandemic.
Gilead continues their greedy price-gouging, hiding behind meaningless platitudes of “equity” and “responsibility.” You would think that a global pandemic might spur a change of heart, but Big Pharma has never had a heart to begin with #GileadGreed https://t.co/BdggIY7jqd
— ACT UP NY (@actupny) June 29, 2020
It’s important to note that remdesivir was produced from taxpayer funding (over $70 million) just like their HIV drugs Truvada ($2,000/bottle) and Biktarvy ($3,390/bottle). Gilead’s greed continues to cost lives. https://t.co/tmVj7qG5Xk
— Jason Rosenberg (@mynameisjro) June 29, 2020
There’s nothing unique about you price gouging lifesaving treatment. You’ve been price-hiking HIV treatment for years https://t.co/GJwgOZ0gD4
— Jason Rosenberg (@mynameisjro) June 29, 2020
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders also chimed in, demanding that the company’s greed “must be stopped.”
To date, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of more than 125,000 million Americans, according to The New York Times. There are currently 2.5 million confirmed cases nationwide.
Its devastating physical toll aside, the pandemic has also ravaged the financial stability and mental health of LGBTQ people across the country.