Not Enough Bullets

You just knew that Gilead would be looting the crap out of any potential use of remdesivir, because looting is what they do.

Well now we have an idea, because the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, (ICER) which is funded in part by pharma and insurance companies has an estimate as to the fair price.

ICER is not generally considered a corrupt organization, or a rent-a-crowd for big pharma, but it very much is a product of the reality that is the US drug industry.

Their number?  $4,460 over the course of treatment, which is positively larcenous:

How much should Gilead Sciences charge for its now-authorized COVID-19 therapy remdesivir? Up to $4,460 per patient, an influential pricing watchdog figures.

While Gilead has yet to present a marketing plan for the first coronavirus treatment to have shown clinical benefits in a well-designed randomized study, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER)—which routinely weighs in on drug costs—says the drug is cost-effective at $4,460 per course of treatment.

Even at $1,000 per patient, less than a quarter of ICER's fair price, Gilead could rake in $1 billion in sales this year—at least theoretically. The company’s now bolstering supply with the aim to treat 1 million patients by the end of the year, Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said in a Sunday note.

This drug was developed with US research money, and if further tests show that it does work, the US government should exercise Bayh-Dole march-in rights and give compulsory license generics manufacturers.