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Sovaldi: AHF's WSJ Ad Asks Gilead Patients & Insurers, "If You Think $1,000 a Pill is OK, Stop Reading This."LOS ANGELES --(Business Wire)-- AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization and a vocal critic of runaway drug pricing and drug profiteering, continued its criticism of Gilead Sciences over the price of its new Hepatitis C medication, Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), with an advocacy ad running in the Wall Street Journal tomorrow, Wednesday, May 7th-the day of Gilead's Annual General Meeting in Millbrae, CA (News - Alert). The ad, a half-page, four-color ad, chides Gilead and asks patients and insurers who foot the bill for the drug, "If You Think $1,000 a Pill is OK, Stop Reading This." It will run in WSJ editions in Northern California and the Washington/Maryland/Virginia markets. The full ad reads: IF YOU THINK $1,000 A PILL IS OK STOP READING THIS. More than 3 million Americans have Hepatitis C. Gilead Sciences' Sovaldi is thelatest attempt to gouge every last cent out of our health care system no matter the consequences on public health. Our State and Federal leaders are breaking the bank by paying whatever Gilead and its pharma allies demand without question. Learn more and take action at www.aidshealth.org/gilead At Gilead's AGM, a shareholder resolution, 'Patient Access as a Criterion of Executive Compensation,' which was put forth by Gilead shareholder & AHF President Michael Weinstein and would tie a portion of the discretionary compensation for Gilead's CEO John Martin, will be voted on. "By pricing Sovaldi as its has, Gilead has moved to the head of the class as the poster child of drug industry greed. The $1,000 price-per-pill is the proverbial blade of grass sticking up on the industry's bad behavior, and with it, they are sowing the seeds of the undoing on the entire industry," said AHF's Weinstein. "Taxpayers and government officials are realizing that enough is enough and people and institutions are fighting back against Gilead and other drug makers' greed." It's estimated that the government purchases over 70% of drugs used in the United States today for use in programs such as the V.A., Medicare, Medicaid and a number of combined federal/state drug assistance programs. As such, AHF believes the government should also be far more aggressive in its dealing with the industry in order to reduce the taxpayers' burden for the cost of drugs.
About AIDS Healthcare Foundation AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to nearly 300,000 individuals in 32 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20140506007186/en/ |
