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A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

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Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#61

Post by aerotwelve »

chimeracoder wrote: post #46
drewmassey wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah perhaps I have stale information then. Last I heard retail truvada will run you north of $1,500 per month in the us.

> Ah perhaps I have stale information then. Last I heard retail truvada will run you north of $1,500 per month in the us. The sticker price is meaningless. Because of the assistance programs, nobody needs to pay it, whether you're on private insurance or uninsured.

Serious question: what's the point of the sticker price then? Surely someone must be paying it, right?

If not, why not lower it for -- at a minimum -- a PR boost?

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#62

Post by jnaina »

Honest question. The generics of Truvada are available in India for around USD$30 a bottle from a number of local Indian Pharma companies including Cipla. It would still be cheaper for Americans to travel to India on a budget flight and buy back a year's supply of these generics. Wouldn't US immigration allow importation of small amounts of medicine for personnel usage if you have a doctor's prescription?

https://dir.indiamart.com/search.mp?ss=tenvir-EM

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#63

Post by brazzledazzle »

aerotwelve wrote: post #61
chimeracoder wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ah perhaps I have stale information then. Last I heard retail truvada will run you north of $1,500 per month in the us. The sticker price is meaningless. Because of the assistance programs, nobody needs to pay it, whether you're on private insurance or uninsured.

Serious question: what's the point of the sticker price then? Surely someone must be paying it, right? If not, why not lower it for -- at a minimum -- a PR boost?

It might be used as a starting point for negotiation with private insurers.

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#64

Post by barry-cotter »

aerotwelve wrote: post #61
chimeracoder wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ah perhaps I have stale information then. Last I heard retail truvada will run you north of $1,500 per month in the us. The sticker price is meaningless. Because of the assistance programs, nobody needs to pay it, whether you're on private insurance or uninsured.

Serious question: what's the point of the sticker price then? Surely someone must be paying it, right? If not, why not lower it for -- at a minimum -- a PR boost?

The sticker price is negotiating leverage for use against organisations with money, the insurance companies and Medicaid and Medicare. They don’t pay the sticker price either but they come much closer because they’re price insensitive. All costs get passed on, on average to the actuarial customer.

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#65

Post by adventured »

jnaina wrote: post #62

Honest question. The generics of Truvada are available in India for around USD$30 a bottle from a number of local Indian Pharma companies including Cipla. It would still be cheaper for Americans to travel to India on a budget flight and buy back a year's supply of these generics. Wouldn't US immigration allow importation of small amounts of medicine for personnel usage if you have a doctor's prescription? https://dir…

There's a 50 dose limit, set by the Customs and Border Protection Agency when bringing drugs back into the US, without a US prescription. There are some exemptions for bringing prescriptions in from Canada and Mexico.

The FDA has its own rules, set at a three month supply, requiring a prescription, and the drug must be legal in the US. You'll see conflicting reports on whether you can get through customs with a three month prescription.

For example here, from the FDA:

"Travel with no more than you need for your personal use during your stay. A rule of thumb: Bring no more than a 90-day supply of medication."

https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm484154.h...

Does that apply only to foreigners, to US citizens, both? Who knows, their own information across agencies seems conflicting and confused. They're probably all unsure of which agency actually has final authority at this point, and or they each probably think their agency does.

That said, every year millions of Americans bring in illegal prescriptions regardless. If you're desperate enough and the savings is high enough, why not try it within reason (stopping short of some large cache that gets you tagged for smuggling that is).

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#66

Post by uniblih »

hndamien wrote: post #60
denzil_correa wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Lol there’s no cure for syphillis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, hep b, etc etc. Each and everyone disease you listed here can be cured. Example, Syphilis - https://www.cdc.gov/std/syphilis/lab/default.htm

If you have a link for the genital herpes cure you will be rich.

> If you have a link for the genital herpes cure you will be rich.

May never happen [0], but one can wish. Although it doesn't have a cure, the treatability, prevalence, and general harmlessness of herpes make it less of an issue than the "curable" STDs. Most doctors don't even bother testing for it [1].

[0] https://www.healthline.com/health-news/why-we-still-dont-hav... [1] https://www.cdc.gov/std/herpes/screening.htm

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#67

Post by pkaye »

aerotwelve wrote: post #61
chimeracoder wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ah perhaps I have stale information then. Last I heard retail truvada will run you north of $1,500 per month in the us. The sticker price is meaningless. Because of the assistance programs, nobody needs to pay it, whether you're on private insurance or uninsured.

Serious question: what's the point of the sticker price then? Surely someone must be paying it, right? If not, why not lower it for -- at a minimum -- a PR boost?

The manufacturer charges a higher price to the insurer and pays for the consumers copay so they are not impacted by price sensitivity. Kind of like business travels tend to spend more because it is the companies money vs their own. If the copay is too high, consumers might shop for cheaper alternatives instead of the "latest and best".

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#68

Post by vecter »

matthewmacleod wrote: post #8

The effectiveness of the tenofovir and emtricitabine combination is hard to overstate. Other studies show almost 100% prevention of infection; to my knowledge there have only been two recorded infections in people who were reliably taking PReP, both of which were due to unusual, rare mutations. This sort of thing is a step change for vulnerable populations; hopefully it ends up being widely accessible. The combinatio…

What is the possibility of more widespread drug resistance as the HIV strains that exhibit immunity are selected for?

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#69

Post by DenisM »

exhilaration wrote: post #57
DenisM wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was $100k per course at the time of introduction in the US, which resulted in a lot of hate. But it is a miracle. A close relative of mine was cured, and it had a profound effect on her quality of life. Gilead has very different prices in different regions, we sourced from a place that was much cheaper.

Since your relative is cured, I don't think there's any harm in telling us what country you sourced the drug from.

India.

Re: A Blue Pill Is Stopping HIV, World-First Study Shows

#70

Post by flashman »

killjoywashere wrote: post #22

Interesting problem we're dealing with: Truvada potentially makes it harder to identify HIV+ blood donors (as their antibody titers fall naturally over time) and raises the question of whether HIV+ individuals will be more likely to attempt to donate in order to "prove they're safe". It is a well-known fact in their community that men having sex with men are deferred from being blood donors for 12 months from last ma…

> there is no approved question for the donor questionnairre

Do they not already ask if someone's ever been diagnosed with asthma, hepatitis, HIV, leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, etc? All of which are permanent disqualifications.

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