As patent due to expire, AHF calls on Gilead for 90% price cut on tenofovir-based drugs

Noting that with the patent ending and generics looming, USA-based global AIDS organization AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is calling on biotech giant Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) to reduce the price of its tenofovir-based drug regimens - including Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) - by as much as 90%.

The California company has made billions off of sales of its tenofovir-based drugs since the Food and Drug Administration first approved Gilead’s tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), branded as Viread, on October 26, 2001, says the AHF, a vocal critic of runaway drug pricing. The patent is set to expire on December 15, 2017, with the patent on a pediatric version of the drug set to expire in early 2018.

For full-year 2016, Gilead reported that HIV and other antiviral product sales were $12.9 billion, up 16% compared to $11.1 billion in 2015.