"In 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Truvada for the use of Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, which reduces the risk of HIV transmission. Recent research revealed that U.S. taxpayers contributed over $143 million to clinical testing and development of Truvada. But despite the role public institutions played in bringing the medication to market, the profits have gone to the pharmaceutical company Gilead, which owns and markets the drug.

By 2019, the pharma company had made $36 billion in profits from Truvada thanks in part to pricing that followed no logical line of reasoning. When it was first approved as a treatment for HIV in 2004, Gilead charged $7,800 per year for treatment. By 2019 the cost had ballooned to $20,000 per year. Similar drug combinations to Truvada were available in other countries for as little as $60 per year.

To combat bad PR, Gilead promised to donate 2.4 million vials of PrEP each year for eleven years to 200,000 uninsured individuals at risk of contracting HIV. While this is a nice gesture, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that there were 1.1 million Americans “at substantial risk for HIV” who “should be offered PrEP.”"

newrepublic.com/article/188772…

#BigPharma #PublicHealth #HIV #AIDS