Hey 2b, how long sgo did you get the blood drawn?

The reason I ask is that I had mine drawn last Tuesday. I checked the Patient Portal a couple days later and I could see every test ordered and that results weren’t in yet. I checked again later, late night Thursday I believe, and the results were in, except the Quantitative test, which was not showing up at all. (It had been there earlier.)

Checked again Friday and no change so I called the clinic. Got a call back a couple hours later, was told that the Quantitative was sent out so would take longer, expect it on Monday.

Looked online late Sunday night.

Both of my providers, one in Washington State and the other in part of America’s third world … western North Dakota … have online patient access to all reports, tests, etc. If anyone out there in a first world country does not have full, complete online access to all of your own records you should be raising hell. This isn’t 1990.

Okay Doc, I see your point … 4 years since the investment/purchase.
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To everybody … Again I’ll highlight that it took them only 15 days to decide to pursue, negotiate a price, and complete papers …. from Dr. Gane’s presentation at “The Liver Meeting”, or AASLD 2011, in San Francisco, to the completion of sale of Pharmasset to Gilead for $11.1 billion …. that’s gotta be some kinda record.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/542ad524-8b77-11e2-b1a4-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3lD22Lvzo

There is no way this was perceived as a high risk transaction. They saw it as a sure thing … a “cash cow” in marketing terminology. Their idea that they should be getting Venture Capital style returns is ludicrous.

On the other hand, Pharmasset was in fact funded by Venture Capitalists such that it appears Schinazi only held barely over 4% of his own company. Those people did deserve a good return. (Whatever that may mean.) (I’m holding out on my opinion of Schinazi’s relationship with the VA etc. until relevant questions are answered.)

The typical human mind is such that most people don’t mentally grasp big numbers. When they hear $11.1 billion what registers is “really big number” and when they hear $3.6 trillion what registers is “really big number.” Politicians take advantage of this fact to appear like they’re dealing with problems when in fact they’re not.

But I’m going to crunch some numbers here to show why I’m not upset by Pharmasset’s sale price and its investors’ profits while I’m appalled at Gileads prices.

First, it is a known fact that the western world and Japan carry the weight of drug development costs for the rest of the world. In the US, with Medicare/medicaid prohibited from negotiating prices, and insurance companies forbidden to source out of country, the US is the primary cost bearer of Pharmaceutical Company profit taking. Japan with its aging population is likely a distant second with the EU as a single entity coming in third. So let’s look at some numbers to see what happens when you spread that $11.1 billion cost around.

$11.1 billion / various HCV Populations

US HCV population ~5.37 million or $2067/patient
This number assumes that the US carries the entire cost of the Pharmasset purchase alone.
As a US citizen I could actually accept that.

If cost is carried by the primary Western World + Japan, S Korea, Singapore * … HCV population ~10.8 million … $1028/patient

If cost is carried by the “developed world minus China” (Vororo’s number above) … HCV population ~43 million … $258/patient

If cost is carried by the whole world …. HCV population ~160 million … $69.39/patient

These numbers really aren’t very big and bear no relationship to Gilead’s price tags. Again, Pharmasset’s profits aren’t remotely the problem.
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* Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, S. Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, USA, UK.
Oops, I forgot Denmark …. oh well, I’m not doing it over …. you get the point.

One quibble on Dr. Freeman’s post …. not three years …. Two.

The FDA approved Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) on Dec 6, 2013

For those in Australia through EU time zones, the two year anniversary date is … tomorrow.

EU approval was Jan 17, 2014 and approval in Japan was not until Mar 26, 2015.

Harvoni approval dates were:
US … Nov 12, 2014
EU … Nov 18, 2014
Japan … July 3, 2015

We should throw an online SCREW GILEAD party!

My, how time flies.

Hi 1folho,

I had consultations, an ultrasound and a fibroscan done at Vejthani Hospital in Bangkok. My Gastroenterologist there was Dr. Sukprasert Jutaghokiate.

While Vejthani was not as impressive as the pictures I’ve seen of Bumrungrad Hospital, it was a very nice facility, completely modern, with a large, very attentive and seemingly very knowledgeable staff. My doctor made the entire experience comfortable and confidence building. The woman that did my ultrasound seemed distinctly more competent than the person who had previously done the procedure two years earlier in the US. I would absolutely recommend Vejthani Hospital as a medical tourism destination.

Would you be willing to tell us what facility you are using and your impressions of them? This is important as others often need to see these types of testimonials to be comfortable trying something as unorthodox as medical tourism.

I watched the CBS story … a couple click-throughs from the above link. They make some pretty strong implications, but strangely they don’t ask or answer any of the pertinent questions.

1) What exactly is Dr. Schinazi’s role at the VA? Obvious question and they didn’t ask it.

2) Was Dr. Schinazi working on any Hepatitis C projects, or specifically drug research on behalf of the VA or any other government entity during this period of time? It’s an easy question to ask, and yet they didn’t.

3) Was Dr. Schinazi using VA or government facilities, grants or other assets to carry out his research? Again, it’s a simple question to ask and yet they didn’t.

4) Was the VA aware of Dr. Schinazi’s outside drug development companies? They play a bit with this issue but don’t actually explain it to the viewer.

Absolutely the VA was aware …. Schinazi has developed many drugs for HIV to the point that 80% of all HIV infected people are taking some type of drug he developed …. virus research is his specialty. In drug development circles the man is about a legend.

With the money he has made, it really seems unnecessary, financially, for him to continue working for the VA … and yet he does.

Think about that.

My father worked as a nurse anesthetist for a VA hospital for a number of years and I can assure you, they are not top salary payers there. So why would Dr. Schinazi work for the VA if he’s independently wealthy and the system doesn’t even pay well?

Maybe CBS is devolving into TMZ.

Just to be clear …. are you saying that the actual price of a bottle is to be $125 or are you saying that it’s a co-pay of $125 with the New Zealand government picking up the rest of the cost? If the latter, then the info is useful only to New Zealanders.

Also, we know from experience the general results of a “wait, wait, wait” strategy. Unless you actually have ZERO other options do not wait.

Edit: OOPs … I misread you. That’s $125 per week not per bottle.
$125 x 12 = $1500
That’s about US$1000, or really not much less than it’s available for right now.

And the question about cost or co-pay still stands.
And what if you prefer Daclatasvir?