Look Who’s Profiting from Gilead's Sky-High Hepatitis C Drug Prices
May 5, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
23 Members of Congress Hold Shares in Gilead Sciences
WASHINGTON – While it’s no secret that companies in various industries use their resources to influence politicians and public policy, it can be easy to forget that elected officials often have legitimate investments in companies—such as Gilead Sciences , which has been criticized by some policy makers due to the high price of the company’s hepatitis C treatments.
A recent report by Open Secrets shows several influential members of Congress from both sides of the political aisle have large investments in the Foster City, Calif.-based company. Three elected officials Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts, Jim Renacci of Ohio and Michael McCaul of Texas, all had shares in the company valued at more than $100,000, according to the report. The list shows shares in the company through 2014, the most recent year stock disclosures were available, Open Secrets said in a report.
• Rep. Joe Kennedy's shares were valued between $180,000 to $450,000
• Rep. Jim Renacci’s shares were valued between $150,000 t0 $350,000
• Rep. Michael McCaul’s shares were valued between $100,000 t0 $200,000
In all, Open Secrets said 23 members of Congress, both in the House and the U.S. Senate, held stock in Gilead Sciences in 2014. The majority of federal lawmakers with holdings in Gilead had share values worth less than $50,000, according to the report. Other noted lawmakers who held stock in 2014 include Rep. Kurt Schrader of Oregon, Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma and Sen. Susan Colling of Maine.
Gilead’s hepatitis C treatments, Sovaldi and Harvoni, provide a near cure for the disease and generated revenue of about $20 billion in 2015 for the company. In all, Gilead saw revenue of about $32 billion last year, the bulk of which came from its hepatitis C drugs. Harvoni and Sovaldi, which have treatment costs of $84,000 and $94,500 respectively for a 12-week regimen. That high price has generated harsh criticism of the company and has led to some investigations into its pricing, particularly in Massachusetts, the home of Joe Kennedy. Earlier this year, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey threatened Gilead with a lawsuit over the pricing of the two hep C treatments. In a letter submitted to Gilead by Healey and obtained by the Boston Globe, Healey said the pricing of the drugs “may constitute an unfair trade practice in violation of Massachusetts law.” The letter said the attorney general’s office was looking at the possibility of bringing an unfair commercial conduct complaint against Gilead.
The high cost of Gilead’s drugs has led some prescription services, such as Express Scripts Holding Company to drop coverage of Sovaldi because of the costs. Likewise, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority filed a lawsuit against drugmaker Gilead charging the company is abusing its rights as a patent holder “by charging discriminatory prices that apparently have no other rational basis other than to inflate the company's bottom line.” In addition, the U.S. Senate report said the high cost of the drugs has also been damaging to Medicaid programs. According to the investigation, Medicaid programs spent $1.3 billion before rebates for the hepatitis C drugs to treat fewer than 2.4 percent of enrollees diagnosed with the liver disease. More than 700,000 hepatitis C patients on state Medicaid programs are still waiting to receive their medications.