June 29, 2020

Gilead’s Remdesivir Price Gouging is Shameful Profiteering During a Pandemic

The following statement was issued by Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, regarding Gilead’s announcement that the price of Remdesivir in the United States will jump by 30% percent from $2,340 per patient to $3,120:

“Drug corporation Gilead today announced that it has jacked up the price of Remdesivir, the promising COVID-19 treatment, by 30%. It will now cost more than $3,000 for a 5-day treatment in the United States.  Americans already pay the highest prescription drug prices in the world. This is yet another sad example of a drug corporation taking advantage of a worldwide pandemic and putting profits over people. Our Alliance retiree members, the most vulnerable COVID-19 population, are left paying for this greed. 

“The American people invested at least $70 million in taxpayer dollars to develop Remdesivir. But we have no say in how much Gilead can charge for it because our government put no strings on our investment. Congress needs to take strong action to finally end the drug industry’s monopoly power to set prices for life-saving drugs as high as they want to.

“Gilead has shown that we can’t trust drug corporations to do the right thing and make critical drugs affordable, rather than more expensive, for all who need them. Seniors face the greatest risk during the coronavirus pandemic, and they are likely to be harmed the most by Gilead’s action. 

“Congress should have fixed this problem years ago — by passing laws that both prevent pandemic profiteering AND require that Medicare negotiate lower drug prices on behalf of all Americans and taxpayers. The need for strong action to curb this industry’s practices has never been clearer. 

“Gilead isn’t the only drug company that price gouges. But as the federal government invests billions of our tax dollars into research for a COVID-19 vaccine or cure, we have to stop these unscrupulous corporations.”

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The Alliance for Retired Americans is a grassroots advocacy organization with more than 4.4 million members nationwide who fight for retirement security for all Americans.

Contact: David Blank, dblank@retiredamericans.org