11 State Treasurers Call on Gilead to Affordably Price Remdesivir
Statement of Peter Maybarduk, Director, Public Citizen's Access to Medicines Program
A bipartisan group of 11 state treasurers Wednesday sent a letter to Gilead Sciences asking the drug manufacturer to reprice the experimental COVID-19 treatment remdesivir affordably, following a similar letter sent from 34 state attorneys general.
“High prices in a pandemic put people’s health at risk,” Peter Maybarduk, director of Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines program, said in support of the letter. “Taxpayers already paid for remdesivir’s development, through more than $70 million in federal research support. Gilead is ripping off taxpayers today, and the federal government needs to step in and take responsibility.” Public Citizen has long contended that remdesivir should be priced at no more than $1 per day.