I'm actually glad they did this as my lead in and part of the press release below shows that greed is still alive and well even with cures...The man is on the top 10 highest compensated CEOs at Forbes already and he wanted more...based on the fact that treatments will run 28k a year for patients. We saw a ton of this with Provenge.
This is part of what's wrong with some of the drug research today. This is a little off topic kind of, but it's a video that talks about the Quants of Wall Street, an hour documentary of how they think and do their math and "make" numbers work. I keep telling everybody it's code and the math and the machines that create these decision making processes and take our money away as the winds have changed in the fact that there's so much "flawed data"out there and smoking mirrors with code and analytics that the computers are not longer always right, Attack of the Killer Algorithms.
This video (link below) drives it home and I used to write code, good code that helps and it angers me when code is written for control money and is not always accurate, but rather gives "desired" results instead.
I have more on this topic when I get going on taxing the data sellers as we need tangible companies that create jobs and not more data sellers that get the date for nothing and the profits for free. There's no incentive for a company to build a factory and hire employees when they get a couple quants and geeks and create algorithms to mine their profits to their doorstep and a healthy tax on this activity would allow companies that make tangibles the ability to compete again as we are off balance, but the greedy quants don't care.
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/...
Read on to to see how profits took precedence with this greedy CEO with the money he could make from treating AIDS...sad and ugly.
This sounds like Provenge all over again, and what roller coaster ride that was as the price of the stock became more important than the prostate cancer drug they produced, and look where they are today, downsizing and competing with other drugs that are simpler in nature. According to this press release the CEO is on the Forbes top 100 paid CEO list, in money that is. The new drug approved costs over $28k a year for a patient. It is 35% higher than the company’s other best selling HIV/AIDS drug.
He sold his stock after the big jump and will the new drug be affordable to Medicare and Medicaid? This alone her goes back to why the NIH needs to fund more research as it certainly needs to be paid for somewhere along the line but perhaps we can leave out some of the money making efforts here that have nothing to do with the product that is being created in order to make it more affordable. If you missed it, last week the NIH/Milken Foundation addressed this very issue in their Celebration of Science. BD
NIH And Milken Institute Announce “Celebration of Science Day” Saturday September 8, 2012 Recognizing Research and Development & Making a Difference - NFL Donates $30 Million to the NIH For Brain Injury Research
I should also add that I do some consulting work for a company that will have the HIV test down to $13 retail and it's a 2 second swipe of the tongue, easier and simpler than what the FDA has approved. It's pretty interesting technology as it can be done with alcohol, drugs and other items. The alcohol testers could be used by restaurants to give out to patrons with their change. If you don't want to self check then, use it later if you have had a bit to drink. I'm working on it and suggested NYC should hand these out as awareness and that way Bloomberg has his answer for digging in for awareness.:) Everyone would win. (link below)
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/...
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LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the nation’s largest HIV/AIDS nonprofit medical providerimage and a vocal critic of runaway drug pricing and AIDS drug profiteering, today criticized John Martin, CEO of Gilead Sciences, the leading HIV/AIDS drug maker, for cashing out at the public’s expense over his recent sale of 145,450 shares of Gilead stock (worth about $8.5 million), which according to the website SeekingAlpha.com, took place on September 4th. Martin had over $54.5 million in reported compensation last year at Gilead, an amount that placed him 10th on Forbes’ List of the 100 highest paid CEOs in the United States.
Martin’s stock sale followed on the heels of news early last week that Gilead chose to set its Wholesale Acquisition Price (WAC) for Stribild, its latest entry in the AIDS drug market, a four-in-one, once-a-day tablet—at $28,500 per patient, per year—a record price for a first line combination therapy and a price that led to some,“…disappointment and controversy within the larger HIV community,” according to a separate press release issued by the ADAP Crisis Task Force (ACTF) of the National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD). Gilead manufactures the most commonly prescribed HIV/AIDS drugs, as well as some of the highest priced ones. Stribild entered the market priced 37% higher than Atripla, Gilead’s best selling HIV/AIDS combination therapy.
According to the SeekingAlpha.com website, “John Martin sold 145,450 shares on September 4 and currently holds 1,989,938 shares of the company. Dr. Martin joined Gilead Sciences in 1990 and currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer.”