[obilgic]

If there is already alternative suppliers of this drug in India (as claimed by the article) under generic brands, can't they do a licensing deal for the drug and use that production while still not ignoring patent laws?

can't tell if this is a supply chain (production) problem or patent laws dilemma.

[olliej]

I think the problem is that gilead has already announced that they’re planning on charging something in the order of $3k per treatment, which won’t work in most of the world, and is a sure fire way to get countries to start asking questions about the value proposition of drug patents.

Basically if you have a company in India willing to manufacture for say $200, Gilead will still charge the same amount, so licensing is likely to end up being at cost for 3rd party manufacturers with all profits going to Gilead.

But if Gilead does do that then a whole lot of countries will suddenly start asking why they’re having to pay so much to a US company that isn’t manufacturing the drug, and is getting a 80-90% cutof the revenue.

It’s better for gilead to try to maintain a veneer if “quality productions costs this much” in order to justify their pricing.

[s1artibartfast]

Most drugs have different prices in different countries so this is nothing new. Also, My understanding is that 3rd party manufactures are not paying any royalties to Gilead, which is very generous and they should be applauded.