MUST READ
Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs on the deeply
flawed American system
Sachs highlights the case of Gilead and its Hepatitis C
(HCV) drug Sofosbuvir:
“Gilead's failure
to ensure access to Sofosbuvir is especially galling given how much money the
company is making on the drug. Gilead bought the patent rights to Sofosbuvir
for $11 billion in late 2011, paid for Phase 3 trials, and put the drug on sale
at the end of 2013 immediately after FDA approval. In 2014, Gilead had sales of
around $12.4 billion for Sofosbuvir (sold under the trade name Sovaldi) and a
Sofosbuvir-based fixed-dose combination (sold under the trade name Harvoni),
and then has remarkable revenues of $4.6 billion for Sovaldi and Harvoni in the
first quarter of 2015.
Thus, Gilead has
had revenues of around $17 billion in just the first 15 months of sales. With
production costs of the drugs well under $1.5 billion for this period, Gilead's
net profits have been well over $11 billion, taking into account its R&D
outlays, marketing costs, and legal costs. In other words, Gilead recouped its
$11 billion investment in less than 15 months and stands to make a fortune in
the coming years. Its soaring stock price has made CEO John Martin a
billionaire.”
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It is quite scary that the US is trying to push its absurd patent regime on to other countries via free trade agreements such as TPP:
http://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2015/07/a-good-reason-to-oppose-tpp.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/31/business/international/pacific-trade-deal-drugs-patent-protection.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/31/business/international/pacific-trade-deal-drugs-patent-protection.html