Posted by Michael Wonder on 05 May 2020
Gilead's drug pricing in the crosshairs again in wake of OK to use remdesivir against COVID-19
4 May 2020 - Gilead plans to spend $1 billion on its COVID-19 drug remdesivir. Now some members of Congress and health care watchdogs want to know how much consumers will pay.
In a letter Thursday to Health and Human Services director Alex Azar, Democratic Reps. Lloyd Doggett of Texas and Rose DeLauro of Connecticut asked for an "appropriate accounting" of taxpayer-backed research into the once-failed Ebola virus treatment that on Friday won Food and Drug Administration emergency use authorisation to treat hospitalized Covid-19 patients.
The request is one of the first salvoes in the latest drug-pricing battle to face Foster City-based Gilead. It comes after revelations that Gilead spent a company-record $2.45 million in the first quarter to lobby Congress and the White House.
