The plan, if enacted, would allow states to import drugs from countries where they’re sold for a cheaper price, even if the drugmaker is based in the U.S.
Under the plan, states would not be allowed to import insulin products or biologic drugs, therefore drugmakers who develop such products would not be affected. Companies including Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi would not be affected by the importation plan, and neither would Novartis, which makes the world’s most expensive drug, Zolgensma.
But drugmakers such as Gilead — a Foster City, Calif.-based manufacturer — that focus on high-cost drugs for such chronic conditions as HIV and hepatitis C would likely be the hardest hit.
Florida wants to import seven Gilead drugs, and Colorado wants to import two, according to STAT. Gilead’s hepatitis C drugs cost as much as $94,500, and some of its HIV drugs cost $2,500 to $3,500 a month.
A Gilead spokesperson told STAT the company is reviewing the importation plan but, “as a general matter, we believe that importation is neither safe nor an effective means to improve patients’ access to innovative medicines.”
Read the full article here.
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