$2,340 for a Covid-19 drug?

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Hi John,

Yesterday US pharmaceutical company Gilead announced that they will charge an extraordinary $2,340 for the drug remdesivir, which is being used as a treatment for Covid-19. The drug has been developed with substantial amounts of public money in the US and researchers have estimated that it can be made for $9, including a reasonable profit.

This is a blatant act of corporate profiteering and shows a barefaced disregard for the public health crisis that the world is facing. Vast sums of public money are being poured into the urgent research and development of Covid-19 vaccines and treatments and yet there are no safeguards to ensure that these will be global public goods - affordable to all countries and free to the public. This news about Gilead could be a sign of things to come if we don’t pressure governments to act.

Can you sign our petition today to put pressure on the government to make Covid-19 vaccines patent-free?

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The price Gilead are preparing to charge for remdesivir is almost ten times higher than the recommended price for a drug that doesn't save patients’ lives, based on a benchmark study. The CEO of Gilead claims that this amount is actually a bargain, as it’s a lot less than it would charge during normal times. But this is small comfort and instead only exposes their naked profiteering from a global pandemic on a drug that has had substantial public investment at every stage of its development.

Gilead's behaviour reminds us that we cannot trust pharmaceutical companies to ensure access for all to essential Covid-19 treatments and vaccines. We need governments to intervene to override patents to ensure access to affordable health products and to attach stringent conditions to public funding. Without these steps, big pharma will be allowed to profiteer their way through this crisis leaving millions of people around the world without fair and affordable access to much-needed treatments and vaccines.

Please help us build this campaign by signing the petition to the UK health secretary now:

Sign the petition

Thank you for all your support.

Best wishes

Heidi Chow
Campaigner at Global Justice Now

PS. We’ve also produced this graphic to share to help spread this news:

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MORE INFO

(1) Gilead sets price for Covid-19 treatment as HHS secures doses, Politico, 29 June 2020

(2) Covid-19 drugs could be made for $1 per day, say academics, Financial Times, 29 June 2020

(3) An Open Letter from Daniel O’Day, Chairman & CEO, Gilead Sciences, Gilead Press Release, 29 June 2020

(4) Affordable medicines for all, Global Justice Now

Help ensure that any Covid-19 vaccine is affordable for everyone, everywhere

We are campaigning for the government to attach conditions on all UK funding for a Covid-19 vaccine so that big pharmaceuticals don’t charge extortionate prices, and leave millions of people around the world unable to access it.

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