AHF: Gilead’s $28K ‘Predatory Pricing’ of New AIDS Drug Prompts Ballot Measure in S.F. to Reign in Drug Costs

Press Teleconference Wednesday, August 29 10:00am Pacific

AHF: Gilead’s $28K ‘Predatory Pricing’ of New AIDS Drug Prompts Ballot Measure in S.F. to Reign in Drug Costs

AIDS Healthcare FoundationCommunications Director+1-323-791-5526 [cell]

will host a tomorrow, at 10:00 am Pacific Time (PT) to announce its plan to file a ballot measure in the City of San Francisco seeking to allow voters to weigh in on directing San Francisco city officials to, “… The proposed ballot measure comes on heels of the FDA approval yesterday of the Bay Area’s four-in-one AIDS treatment combination —which Gilead immediately priced at $28,500 per patient, per year, Wholesale Acquisition Cost (WAC)—a whopping 37% more than Gilead’s best-selling three-in-one AIDS treatment, Atripla—and also than most U.S. AIDS patients earn in any given year.

“This is as blatant an example of predatory pricing as there is, and Gilead Sciences and CEO John Martin should be ashamed,” said , President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “$28,500 per patient, per year for this drug illustrates how unsustainable drug pricing has become—in fact, $28,500 is more than most U.S. AIDS patients earn in a year. This price will severely limit access to lifesaving AIDS medications by gouging government aid programs like the AIDS Drug Assistance Programs. We previously urged Gilead to price the new combination no higher than that of Atripla. In response to Gilead’s pricing action, we have decided to move forward with a ballot measure in the City of San Francisco that would require city officials to work to reign in such runaway drug costs.”

AHF’s City of San Francisco ballot initiative requires the collection of approximately 10,000 valid signatures of registered San Francisco voters. Collection of signatures will begin later in the fall (it is too late to qualify for the November 2012 ballot) and extend through early winter, and the measure should appear on the November 5, 2013 San Francisco election ballot.

Following is the language of AHF’s proposed ‘Stop Runaway Drug Pricing’ San Francisco ballot measure:

Two weeks ago, a group of 20 California legislators led by (D, 53 Assembly District) cosigned a to , Director of in which the legislators expressed concern about the rising costs of drugs to treat people with HIV/AIDS served by California’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) and encouraged Chapman’s department to,

Butler’s cosigners include: (D, 13 District); (D, 8 District); (D, 35 District); (D, Torrance); (D, 40 District); (D, 76 District); (D, 24 District); (D, 78 District); (D, Santa Clara); (D, 54 District); Senator (D, Los Angeles); Assemblymember (D, 6 District); (D, 45 District); (D, 41 District); (D, 15 District); (D, 1 District); (D, 62 District); (D, Los Angeles) and (D, 44 District).

In the legislators’ letter to Dr. Chapman, dated and sent August 16, 2012, they noted:

“Gilead’s excessive pricing of it AIDS drugs has already generated record profits for the company, and $53 million in annual pay for its CEO, John Martin, making him the tenth highest paid executive in the nation,” added AHF’s Weinstein. “Sadly, this has come at the expense of state ADAP and Medicaid programs, the largest purchasers of Gilead’s products, and the people living with HIV/AIDS that rely on these programs but cannot access them due to funding constraints. A state as vast and powerful as California—and a City like San Francisco—can and should use its clout to stand up to runaway pricing drug companies like Gilead feel they can get away with.”

(AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 176,000 individuals in 27 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: , find us on Facebook: and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare.