Expensive hep C meds fueled US drug spending spike
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
New expensive hepatitis C virus (HCV) medicines like Gilead Sciences' Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) and Harvoni (ledipasvir-sofosbuvir) and AbbVie's Viekira Pak (ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir/dasabuvir), which range from $84,000-$94,500 per treatment course, were blamed for the sharp increase from 2.5% in 2013 to 12.6% last year in prescription drug spending – playing a major role in the overall acceleration in dollars spent on US healthcare for 2014, government actuaries said on 28 July.