Not Acceptable: Big Pharma Profits From Breakthrough HIV Treatment, Funded by Public Dollars
March 27, 2019
Not Acceptable: Big Pharma Profits From Breakthrough HIV Treatment, Funded by Public Dollars
Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines Experts Are Available to Comment
Public Citizen’s experts are available to comment on news that the U.S. government holds patents on breakthrough HIV prevention medication but has not asserted its rights, allowing Gilead Sciences to set high prices and forgo an opportunity to end AIDS. In 2018 Gilead earned $3 billion in sales on Truvada for PrEP, which was developed using $50 million in federal grants.
Approximately 40,000 new HIV infections are reported every year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Public Citizen experts are available to discuss:
- How the U.S. government could use its patents to help end HIV/AIDS;
- How U.S. government funding leads to the discovery of many medical technologies, but the government asks little in return from corporations that market these products under monopoly protections; and
- How rethinking patents and the U.S. government role could transform medicine pricing.