to instantly read 150+ free stories & 250-word summaries of all our stories

Breakthrough or backbreaking?

On the trail of Gilead’s $1000-pill

You have at least 8-10 million people with Hepatitis C in India; you are leaving behind 10-15% difficult-to-treat patients, and you have new infections of this silent killer every year. Yet you can eradicate it, like Polio. Because there’s a drug. So, what’s next?

11/09/17

Seema Singh

Gilead’s voluntary license to Indian generic makers for sofosbuvir three years ago, brought down the price from $1000 a pill to $10, and then to $3 a pill. Leading doctors believe it’d hit $1/pill soon

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many manufacturers have decamped. The remaining ones believe just reducing the price will not wipe out this virus which can remain dormant for as long as 20 years, eating away the liver

 

Doctors are advocating a ‘recall policy’ on one hand and a national programme on the other. Both require resources for diagnostics and drugs. A PIL towards this is now accepted in the Delhi High Court

 

By the time Gilead’s voluntary license comes up for renewal in two years, would drug companies, government and Indians be moving towards Hep C eradication?

 

Sovaldi-1920x928.jpg

Every once in a while comes a discovery that brings about a seismic change. And every once in a while, also comes a  business decision that enhances the seismic effect. One such discovery was the drug sofosbuvir, approved in late 2013 by the US regulator for treating Hepatitis C. It was the first time a…

To access this post, you must purchase Monthly Recurring, Quarterly or Weekly Product.

Read the full story. Create a free account.

Or subscribe. Why? Let us explain.

Already Registered?

Related stories

More stories in /Healthcare & /Reportage

See all in Analysis, Reportage, Startups & Technology

Want to read this story for free right now? Just

Read the full story instantly.
Just enter your email address.

Or subscribe. Why? Let us explain.

Or

By registering, you will be signed-up for an account which gives you access to a free story published once a week and archives of all our free stories. You will also receive a daily newsletter sent to your inbox. To unsubscribe, please visit the profile section in your account.

What you get

Access all free stories

100+ archived free stories, and all upcoming ones too.

Paid story summaries

Read an exclusive 200 word summary for all our paid stories.

Daily Newsletters

Our world-renowned emails, in your inbox, every day.

Or get full access to all our stories

About subscriptions

Already Registered? Login

Questions?

What is The Ken?

The Ken is a subscription-driven media site. We write one story a day (weekdays only). These stories have sharp, original insights on technology, business, science and healthcare from India.

Why do I have to sign up to read your stories?

Our stories are not free. Well, some select stories are. But, a significant part of what we write at The Ken is for subscribers only. We put in a lot of effort and resources in writing our stories and believe that you must pay for good journalism.
Hence, our three plans. 1) The annual membership
2) The free sign up
3) The recurring quarterly subscription

On journalism and why you should pay for it, if you haven’t already seen it, here’s a great explainer from John Oliver.

So, one must pay for journalism?

Yes.

How many stories will I get if I take an annual membership?

200+ stories.

And, in the free sign up?

Four stories every month.

Do I get a refund?

We allow you to sample our journalism for free before signing up, and after you do, we stand by its quality. But we do not offer refunds.

I am not getting my daily emails. Do I have to whitelist emails from The Ken?

An added benefit of your subscription (free/paid) are the daily personalised emails. These emails, at times, might end up in your spam/junk folder due to emojis, attachments or images. In case you’re not receiving these emails, it might help to whitelist us. If the problem still persists, write to us at [email protected].

Why am I unable to access the archives?

Full and unrestricted access to our archives is a feature of our annual membership.

My payment is not going through, what can I do?

Please write to us at [email protected] detailing the payment error or queries.

See all FAQs

    See all results for Ken

    No results found for Ken.