Gilead Sets Price at $3,120 Per Patient With Private Insurance for Coronavirus Drug Remdesivir

Gilead Sciences unveiled the cost of its five-day coronavirus treatment.

On Monday, Gilead Chairman and CEO Daniel O’Day penned an open letter outlining the costs for remdesivir treatments.

The cost will be $2,340 per COVID-19 patient for Medicare and “governments of developed countries,” which equates to approximately $390 per vial. However, a U.S. patient with private health insurance will be charged $3,120 — an estimated minimum of $520 per vial — or up to $5,720 per patient for a longer duration.

However, O’Day insists the prices actually below market value in an effort to offer “broad and equitable access.”

“As with many other aspects of this pandemic, we are in uncharted territory in pricing remdesivir,” O’Day wrote. “Ultimately, we were guided by the need to do things differently.”

He continued, “As the world continues to reel from the human, social and economic impact of this pandemic, we believe that pricing remdesivir well below value is the right and responsible thing to do.”

In the letter, O’Day also confirmed that the company had entered into various agreements with drug manufacturers capable of producing generic forms of the drug in developing countries. The company expects to begin charging in July.

Gilead’s announcement about remdesivir comes amid doctors’ and medical experts’ scrutiny of the drug.

While the cost outlined covers five days of treatment, a medical publication previously noted that remdesivir reduced recovery time by an average of four days based on a 10-day course of remdesivir.

Multiple doctors and medical experts have also echoed similar sentiments expressing concern about the cost compared to the benefit and the results of healthcare as a big business.

Some have also argued that clinical studies have not yet indicated whether or not there is even a mortality benefit that can justify the cost.

“Gilead Sciences charging $2,340 for a 5-day course of Remdesivir that maybe reduces time to recovery, doesn’t improve survival,” Dr. Eugene Gu tweeted, adding, “And is likely inferior to the much cheaper dexamethasone for ventilated patients reveals Big Pharma’s greed and opportunism during this pandemic.”

Despite mounting concerns about the drug as a coronavirus treatment, Dr. Anthony Fauci touted the drug previously as he insisted it shows promise.