AOC asks pharma CEO why $2,000 HIV drug costs just $8 in Australia: 'People are dying for no reason'

By Dilip -
New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had a simple question for the head of a major drug company: why should a $2,000 HIV treatment be available for just $8 in Australia?  “You’re the CEO of Gilead. Is it true that Gilead made $3bn in profits from Truvada in 2018,” Ms Ocasio-Cortez asked Daniel O’Day, the CEO of California-based Gilead Sciences, during a hearing of the House committee on oversight and reform.

Mr O’Day replied that the company had generated $3bn in revenues, not profits. Referring to Truvada, a drug used to reduce the transmission of HIV, Ms Ocasio-Cortez, pointed out that while it cost almost $2,000 in the US, it was available for just $8 in places such as Australia. In South Africa, it costs just $6. “Truvada still has patent protection in the United States and in the rest of the world it is generic,” said Mr O’Day said. “It will be generically available in the United States as of September 2020.”

According to The Hill, the congresswoman replied: “I think it’s important here that we notice that we the public, we the people, developed this drug. We paid for this drug, we lead and developed all the patents to create Prep and then that patent has been privatised despite the fact that the patent is owned by the public, who refused to enforce it... read more and see video
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/aoc-hiv-drug-cost-us-australia-ceo-gilead-video-a8919316.html

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