Lawmakers to Hold Hearing on Costly Hepatitis C Medications

Following the recent approval of combination sofosbuvir and ledipasvir for the treatment of hepatitis C that comes with a $94,500 pricetag, lawmakers are looking to investigate this costly disease state and the truth behind drug prices.

Senator Bernard Sanders (I-VT) is expected to hold a hearing before the end of the year to examine how the cost of hepatitis C drugs is affecting the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The new hepatitis C drugs come with a sustained virologic response rate >90%, leading to a surge in prescribing habits, which has significantly impacted many insurance budgets.

Since its approval last year, pharmacy benefit mangers and state Medicaid programs have complained of the pricetag associated with sofosbuvir, which is manufactured by Gilead Sciences. While debates have carried on for a year, Gilead maintains that the treatment is a cheaper alternative to previous forms of care that may be less successful and involve costly hospitalization.

However, a recent forecast from the Veterans Department indicated that sofosbuvir will cost the department approximately $1.3 billion over the next 2 years. And that figure is derived after a discount the VA receives that brings the cost per pill down from $1000 to about $543, according to department documents provided earlier this year to the US Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

This is not the first time Congress has responded to concerns over the cost of hepatitis C medicines. In July, 2 members of the US Senate Finance Committee asked Gilead to provide financial information about the $11 billion deal in which it acquired the treatment, research and development costs, and subsequent pricing forecasts.—Kerri Fitzgerald

Source: Wall Street Journal. 2014; Senate Lawmaker Eyes Hearing on the Cost of Hepatitis C Treatments.