Hepatitis C kills more Americans than all other infectious diseases combined

Post by tyingq » Thu, Dec 26, 2019, 3:05 PM UTC

losvedir wrote: post #74

tyingq wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"gilead the makers of Harvoni literally made a cure for a previously uncureable disease" No, they acquired Pharmasset, the company that made the cure, for $11.2B. That was a pretty low-risk move. It was already an obvious money maker. "for all the RnD that went into doing that" In the 18 months following Sovaldi’s approval, Medicare alone spent $8.2 billion on the drugs...that doesn't include private insurance paymen…

> No, they acquired Pharmasset, the company that made the cure, for $11.2B. That was a pretty low-risk move. It was already an obvious money maker. Before I was a software developer I was in equity research, and one of the companies that we covered was Pharmasset. The whole point of these research companies is to find a winner and be acquired. I get that it's low risk for the acquirer, but without that big payout the…

Post by ethbro » Thu, Dec 26, 2019, 3:06 PM UTC

shaftoe wrote: post #12

I get their point about stigma, but as someone who has never injected drugs, I'm having a hard time caring about getting screened for this. How do they intend to actually roll out a massive testing operation (everyone under 80) when likely most people hear the details and respond with "meh, not me"?

Post by astura » Thu, Dec 26, 2019, 3:08 PM UTC

ssorallen wrote: post #76

shaftoe wrote: post #12

I get their point about stigma, but as someone who has never injected drugs, I'm having a hard time caring about getting screened for this. How do they intend to actually roll out a massive testing operation (everyone under 80) when likely most people hear the details and respond with "meh, not me"?

I didn’t read this as advocating for everyone to run to get tested immediately. This is more a call to healthcare professionals to advocate for this testing. One way this can roll out is when sexually active adults who are considered low risk for HepC hopefully do their regular STI screening, either they or their healthcare provider can request a HepC test.

Post by thedaemon » Thu, Dec 26, 2019, 3:16 PM UTC

big_chungus wrote: post #69

Retric wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Presumably, R&D costs should be shared across all countries rather than individual countries footing the bills. Alternatively a cost benefit from such R&D spending such that US R&D subsidies resulted in free drugs for the US market would be acceptable. Instead, the US both has the largest R&D subsides and the largest drug prices.

This requires some IP protection. Even if it's weaker than in America, at least some. Many nations adopt the stance that if it wasn't invented in their nation, screw the other guy, they're taking the IP. Many first-world nations, including Europe and Canada, do this and use the threat thereof to force down prices because their socialized medicine does not provide sufficient funds.

Post by deith » Thu, Dec 26, 2019, 3:21 PM UTC

trimbo wrote: post #15

yakz wrote: post #2

Antiviral drugs for hepatitis C are very effective, but they come at a steep cost. Just one Sovaldi pill costs $1,000. A full 12-week course of treatment with this drug costs $84,000. The price of other hepatitis C drugs is also high: Harvoni costs $94,500 for a 12-week treatment Mavyret costs $39,600 for a 12-week treatment Zepatier costs $54,600 for a 12-week treatment Technivie costs $76,653 for a 12-week treatmen…

They're priced this way because they're 80-90% cheaper than the previous treatment. Previously, with no cure, HepC patients would have eventually had a liver transplant. Liver transplants cost between $500K-$1M. Of course, it also requires a liver, so many would die waiting for a liver. As you noted, the drugs have become much cheaper. Mavyret is ~1/2 the cost of Sovaldi, the first drug on the market (replaced by Har…