Biotech company Gilead faces the ire of ACT UP and other activists for their pricing of Hepatitis C drug, Sovaldi. The drug costs a whopping $1,000 per pill, or $84,000 for a standard 12-week treatment period.
In a New York Times piece from July, Gilead chief operating officer John Milligan defends the pricing, saying: “It’s an outlier because we are curing people of a horrible disease in a very rapid time frame."
Activists beg to differ, with cries of "ACT UP Fight Back End AIDS & Hep C" heard across twitter. User @AnnetteGaudino offer a particularly succinct and biting take on the scenario, and points out a couple non-answers to concerns from Gilead executives:
@GileadSciences is making a killing w #sovaldi instead of ending the #HepatitisC epidemic @actupny @VOCALNewYork pic.twitter.com/NQsUj1iQtf
— Annette Gaudino (@AnnetteGaudino) September 9, 2014
In a YouTube video, people in New York speak out, chanting: "Gilead is killing people with Hep C!" and "Drop the price!" Check it out, embedded AFTER THE JUMP…
[photo via Health GAP's twitter]
