AbbVie Strikes Hepatitis C Discount Deal With AIDS Drug Programs
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AbbVie Inc. has agreed to provide its breakthrough, $1,000-a-day hepatitis C treatment to state-based HIV drug programs at a substantial discount, according to a group that negotiates drug pricing for the programs.
The ADAP Crisis Task Force negotiates for the 50-plus such programs and served about 150,000 patients in June 2013, said Britten Pund, associate director of health-care access for the National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors. The group doesn’t have any deal with Gilead Sciences Inc., which sells the competing medicines Sovaldi and Harvoni. AbbVie’s drug, Viekira Pak, requires patients to take more pills a day than Gilead’s treatment.