Posted on 06/29/2020 10:20:54 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Pharmaceutical giant Gilead has announced pricing for its coronavirus drug remdesivir, and it’s just short of an arm and a leg.
Gilead said the drug will cost $520 per vial, or $3,120 for a six-vial treatment, for private insurance companies. And that’s for the short treatment. The long treatment will cost $5,720.
The price will be different for government health care programs in developed countries, such as Medicare. The cost: $390 per vial, or $2,340 per patient on a short, six-vial treatment.
“In normal circumstances, we would price a medicine according to the value it provides. The first results from the NIAID [National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases] study in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 showed that remdesivir shortened time to recovery by an average of four days,” Gilead Sciences CEO and Chairman Daniel O’Day said in an open letter obtained by Fox News.
“Taking the example of the United States, earlier hospital discharge would result in hospital savings of approximately $12,000 per patient. Even just considering these immediate savings to the healthcare system alone, we can see the potential value that remdesivir provides. This is before we factor in the direct benefit to those patients who may have a shorter stay in the hospital.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved remdesivir for treating COVID-19, but did grant emergency use authorization in May. Just days ago, remdisivir won conditional approval in Europe.
In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, O’Day said America is the only developed country in which two different prices would be used.
“Because of the way the U.S. system is set up and the discounts that government healthcare programs expect, the price for U.S. private insurance companies, will be $520 per vial,” O’Day said in his letter. “At the level we have priced remdesivir and with government programs in place, along with additional Gilead assistance as needed, we believe all patients will have access.”
Said The Journal:
Covid-19 patients get two doses of remdesivir by infusion on the first day, and one dose daily afterward. The shortest treatment course is five days, while a longer treatment course takes 10 days.
Currently, 90% to 95% of patients receive five-day treatment courses, Mr. O’Day said.
Remdesivir is the first antiviral drug shown to be effective at treating Covid-19 in a major clinical trial, reducing patients’ recovery times by four days compared with the placebo group in a large study funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
How much taxpayer money was involved to develop it?
Here are a few elements of Professor Raoult’s testimony, which was done under oath. Please refer to the full interview in French for details.
Recommendation of an inquiry into Gilead / Remdesivir
Professor Raoult suggested the members of parliament that an investigation takes place into Gilead Science. He is very adamant about a negative role having been played by the corporation during the pandemic. For him, Gilead Science’s drug, Remdesivir, initially developed for Ebola, never was a realistic option for treating COVID-19 patients. He also mentioned the stock exchange speculation that took place in connection with information becoming available regarding remdesivir and HCQ. He sees Gilead as a company operating with little personnel, with few products, but with tremendous influence.
Conflicts of Interest Abound in the Medical Profession
A significant part of the testimony of Professor Raoult was about the various conflicts of interest in the medical sector. He reminded how declarations of conflicts of interest came about in the medical field, as pharmaceutical companies have provided financial support and other benefits, including trips, for years, to medical doctors. He mentioned the example of Merck having offered fake professional trips to China to French doctors. Without using the word corruption, he suggested such “ecosystem” brings doctors to share similar views as the pharmaceutical industry.
Anonymous Death Threats Originating from Individual with Links to Gilead
Professor Raoult testified that, shortly after he started to talk about HCQ as a treatment, in March, he received anonymous death threats. He filed a complaint with the police, and an enquiry was opened by the French judiciary. The medical doctor behind the threats was found and happens to be from a Nantes university hospital. It happened to be the person who received the most money from Gilead over the past 6 years. Professor Raoult presents this as a “personal experience.” In his testimony, he remained diplomatic and suggested “to be attentive to this level of problem.”
Professor Raoult said he had been shocked to see the French doctor in charge of the SOLIDARITY clinical trials, which have yielded no results so far and seem to go nowhere, to use the informal “tu” and not “vous” to Gilead’s director at a meeting, in front of the French president and health minister. Professor Raoult, whose father was a military medical doctor, said that he is not used to be talked to in such an informal way.
No Direct Attack on President Macron and Health Minister Véran
Professor Raoult pointed at important mistakes done by the French government, including the prohibited usage of hydroxychloroquine outside of hospital settings, and the new restrictions on azithromycin. Yet he mostly blamed incompetent advisors to the health minister and to the president. He said he continued to have communication channels, during the crisis, at the highest level. He only named names in the case of the medication authority ANSM and the public health authority HCSP.
This entire train wreck is all about money and control.
I’m not surprised.
Some IV antibiotics are incredibly expensive per dose.
study in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 showed that remdesivir shortened time to recovery by an average of four days,”...
I’ll lose the 4 days. I only pay for the first 5 days in the hospital..a co pay.
So it wouldn’t even save me any money.
Anyone know what its advantages are over the anti malaria drug that is being used widely? In some places?
Is it better if one is in a later stage of the illness?
And how much of a kickback are doctors and hospitals and our fearless leaders getting?
I read somewhere it was $70 million. Or roughly 22,500 doses.
Can this drug be used in combination with HCQ, Zn and antibiotic?
Is it of any value in such combined use?
“Can this drug be used in combination with HCQ, Zn and antibiotic?”
Yes. It has been.
Don’t worry. The Federal Reserve will just print up a couple $billion and credit directly to the government service account.
stimulus!
Women, Children, the Poor and Minorities hardest hit!...............
FDA says HCQ weakens the effects of RichDeserver or whatever it’s called.
Amazing how the really expensive one can’t be used with the really cheap one.
Developed for ebola and failed at that.
It doesn’t work for the China virus, either.
Vitamin C
Vitamin D3
Vitamin E
Zinc
Mind you, this will result in a run on Centrum Silver and One-A-Day 50+ Healthy Advantage vitamins starting in August 2020. 🙄
Meanwhile the successful low cost treatment of hcq + azithromycin + Zn and if necessary Decadron is being put to the side.....
I took Eliquis for three months. It cost me $500 a month.................
How much stock does Fauci or members of his family own?
Follow the money.....
Somebody is planning getting rich.
this is why all the lies against the trifecta (of CHEAP and plentiful proven pills) that cures almost all cases of this virus
someone wants to get rich by selling some new expensive med
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