Despite global outrage at the cost of its Hepatitis C cure, Gilead reaps huge profits – aided by Australian taxpayer subsidies.
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How much can a multinational take before its social licence to operate in this country expires? How much corporate welfare is too much?
At over $1,300 a pill, a cure for hepatitis C comes at a high price.
from www.shutterstock.com.au
Combinations of two or three hepatitis C virus direct-acting antiviral drugs taken for 8-24 weeks can cure more than 90% of people treated.
The proposed Australian price for Sovaldi has not been disclosed, but in the United States a three-month course of treatment costs US$84,000.
Stuart Hamilton/Flickr
It’s twice as common as type 1 diabetes. It kills more Australians than HIV. One in every 100 of us lives with hepatitis C, but the disease receives little attention. Worldwide, around 150 million people…