The Employers’ Prescription for Affordable Drugs said Medicare should determine fair prices for COVID-19 drugs and vaccines and pointed to Gilead’s remdesivir as an example of an overpriced drug. The FDA approved remdesivir as a COVID-19 treatment in October. The drug costs private health plans more than $3,00 per treatment course, Bloomberg reported.
“We are very concerned about price-gouging for the vaccines and treatments,” Elizabeth Mitchell, CEO of the Pacific Business Group on Health, a member of the EmployersRx coalition, told Bloomberg.
Gilead said in June that the price of remdesivir was set to make sure it wouldn’t impede access for patients and that the price is lower than the expected savings for hospitals from patients being released earlier, Bloomberg reported.
“These drugs and therapeutics were developed with significant federal investment,” Ms. Mitchell told Bloomberg. “We think that needs to be reflected in the pricing.”
The U.S. typically doesn’t set prices for retail drugs. They are set by negotiations between payers, pharmacy benefit managers and drugmakers.
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