Advocates Shout “No More!” to Greedy Gilead

In Advocacy, Gilead, News, Pharmaceutical by Fiona Ip

In case you missed it – AHF advocates protested at three Gilead Sciences’ offices in as many U.S. cities as part of nationwide World AIDS Day actions on Dec. 1! The demonstrations were the latest round of activism targeting “Greediad” – the catchphrase calling out the drug maker for its greed on drug pricing and policies.

“The AHF protest to raise our voices against the unrelenting Gilead Greed was phenomenal!” said Tracy Jones, National Director of Mobilization Campaigns at AHF. “One hundred staff and volunteers took to the streets in D.C. to say ‘No more!’”

Hundreds of protesters descended upon Gilead’s lobbying office in Washington D.C., as well as facilities in Miami and Oceanside (CA), to continue pressuring the company over its greedy tactics, particularly illegal restrictions the company placed on access to 340B drug pricing for certain pharmacies for its branded hepatitis C treatments.

“AHF is the voice for the voiceless for specialty drug pricing, and this advocacy is a necessity for the underserved and low-income communities,” said Patricia Bermúdez, Senior Regional Director for AHF’s Western Region, who demonstrated in Oceanside. “Big Pharma is only concerned with their profit margin – not the patient lives impacted by their high drug prices and greed. We will continue to do the work needed to address Pharma’s greed across the nation as we did on World AIDS Day.”

According to the 340B Report, Gilead also refused to offer the 340B discount price for HIV drugs to providers who use contract pharmacies and dramatically increased the price that safety net providers pay for the HIV treatment and prevention medication Descovy.

“The World AIDS Day Gilead protests were a great example of the radical collaboration that AHF is known for,” added Latonya Thurman, AHF’s Associate Director of Mobilization Campaigns. “It was great to see so many members of our Board of Directors, Senior Management, AHF staff from all service lines, and our dedicated clients unite to pull off a three-city protest. I am always amazed at the things we can do as an organization!”

The recent demonstrations followed similar actions in October, when advocates hammered Gilead with weeklong, twice-daily protests in front of its headquarters in Foster City, CA.

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