Activists challenge block to generic PrEP and current US price of TDF/FTC
19 June 2019. Related: Treatment access, HIV prevention and transmission.
Simon Collins, HIV i-Base
Over the last month the price of TDF/FTC PrEP in the US, where this combination is still under patent, was the focus of several widely reported developments.
Firstly, on 14 May 2019, a coalition of US HIV activists, working under the umbrella organisation PrEP4all, filed a class action lawsuit over delayed access to generic versions of TDF/FTC. [1, 2]
Secondly, the US House Oversight and Reform Committee convened a hearing to examine the high pricing of Truvada.
These proceedings are available in full online and include testimonies from prominant HIV activists, researchers involved in PrEP research and representatives from Gilead.
In the week before these events, Gilead had issued a press release announcing that the company would donate up to 2.4 million bottles of Truvada as part of a ten year programme to broaden access to PrEP for people in the US without medical insurance. [4]
Currently, a bottle of 30 tablets of TDF/FTC is priced at approximately $2000. Based on generic prices for PrEP the manufacturing cost for Truvada is likely to be less than 1% of this price charged.
References
- Activists go after pharma giants in court. Gay City News, 16 May 2019.
https://www.gaycitynews.nyc/stories/2019/11/pharma-lawsuit-peter-staley-2019-05-16-gcn.html - Rowlansd C. Gilead is accused of cutting anti-competitive deals to extend profit on HIV drug combinations. Washington Post, (14 May 2019.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/gilead-is-accused-of-cutting-anti-competitive-deals-to-extend-profit-on-hiv-drug-cocktails/2019/05/14/94e79c56-75ad-11e9-bd25-c989555e7766_story.html - House Oversight and Reform Committee on pricing of Truvada in the US (3.5 hours). Second hearing on sky-rocketing price of drugs in the US.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?460810-1/gilead-ceo-daniel-oday-testifies-truvada-hiv-prevention-drug-pricing
Selected edits:
http://makemedicinesaffordable.org/en/truvada-for-prep-gilead-grilled-at-us-congressional-hearing - Gilead Sciences to provide free Truvada for PrEP to support US initiative to end the HIV epidemic – donation provides up to 2.4 million free bottles annually to uninsured Americans at risk for HIV. (09 May 2019).
https://www.gilead.com/news-and-press/press-room/press-releases/2019/5/gilead-sciences-to-provide-free-truvada-for-prep-to-support-us-initiative-to-end-the-hiv-epidemic