Posted by Michael Wonder on 23 Jul 2020
How to lower drug prices without killing research and development
23 July 2020 - The race for treatments and vaccines for COVID-19 has again raised questions about how much drugs are worth and how to price them fairly.
For instance, Gilead recently announced that remdesivir, a drug originally developed for hepatitis C that has been shown to be effective in speeding up the recovery time for COVID-19, will be priced at $3,120.
In explaining its pricing, Gilead pointed out that given the cost of extended hospitalisation (estimates for COVID-19 patients are around $12,000 per day), the price is justified based on the value it provides.
