US Senators press for details on Gilead’s Sovaldi pricing

Adding to previous criticism from the likes of the medical humanitarian organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and the World Health Organization, US Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (Democrat, Oregon) and senior Finance Committee member Chuck Grassley (Republican, Iowa) on Friday requested detailed pricing information from US anti-virals specialist Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) on its costly new hepatitis C virus (HCV) drug Sovaldi (sofosbuvir).

Senators Wyden and Grassley, who have long championed transparency in health care, have asked Gilead for information about Sovaldi, which has been hailed as breakthrough treatment for the 3.2 million Americans infected with HCV.

The drug carries a price tag of around $1,000 per pill, or $84,000 for a 24 week period of treatment, and in the first full quarter on the market (January-March 2014) has already generated sales of $2.3 billion for the company. However,  Gilead has indicated it would charge $2,000 per 24 week treatment course for sofosbuvir in developing countries. The company also said it will sell for almost 49,000 euros in Germany (about $66,580), and almost £35,000 (around $60,000) in the UK.