Bernie Sanders, California Dropped A Grenade On Gilead
Source: The New Yorker

(May 12, 2016 10:39 am) — In September Hillary Clinton put the healthcare industry on notice pursuant to price gouging. She may have been trying to upstage Senator Bernie Sanders after his HCV rant four months earlier. Sanders thought veterans deserved the world’s best HCV treatment — Gilead’s (NASDAQ:GILD) Harvoni — at a reasonable price; I agreed with him. Market chatter suggested the VA garnered HCV drugs at $40,000 per regimen. Gilead intimated it cut the price even further in Q1 in order to woo the VA back.

Summary

A California initiative — California Drug Price Relief Act — would prohibit state agencies from paying more for prescription drugs than the VA.

Senator Bernie Sanders has thrown his support behind the Act.

The Act could put a dent in prices for prescription drugs like HCV and HIV/AIDS.

If the Act gains traction nationwide it could sink GILD.

Bernie Sanders has gone too far this time.

(Read more.)