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US drug firm Gilead Sciences posts £2.2bn profit as Senate investigates hepatitis C cure overpricing

Vice-president claims bump from £21k to £50k 'necessary' to incentivise companies to produce drugs

A California drug firm has reported second-quarter profits of $3.7 billion (£2.2bn) just weeks after US senators began investigating claims it overpriced a total cure for hepatitis C.

Gilead Sciences announced the figure — a net margin of 56 per cent — at the weekend.

The company’s star turn was hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, which generated $3.5bn (£2.1bn) from sales.

Senators say Pharmasset, which originally developed the drug, had asked for $36,000 (£21,200) per treatment.

But following its $11bn (£6.5bn) purchase of Pharmasset two years ago, Gilead bumped up the price to $84,000 (£50,000).

Such profit levels triggered alarm and US senators have raised questions over the company’s charges.

Senate finance committee members asked the company last month to show how it arrived at the sale price. 

They said Pharmasset spent $62.5 million (£37m) on developing the drug and called into question Gilead’s increased price.

Medicaid programmes, which provide health cover for the US working class, are also deeply concerned and the World Health Organisation has been calling for price cuts ever since Sovaldi appeared. 

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders has blamed the company for putting profit before patients.

Gilead vice-president Gregg Alton recently addressed the issue at a public forum.

“To suggest that a cure for a disease like hepatitis C should be priced at $36,000 (£21,200) would put a huge disincentive on investing in cures,” he claimed.

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