Forbes magazine’s article on Truvada explains how capitalist logic defines, according to the possibility of profits, whether a drug is made available to the public or not. Regardless of the world going through an epidemic with high mortality rate.
Gilead Said PrEP To Prevent HIV Was ‘Not A Commercial Opportunity.’ Now It’s Running Ads For It
“I’m on the pill,” declares a transgender woman in an up-close shot featured in Gilead Science’s latest drug commercial. “But it’s not birth control,” says a young guy, with a smile, in another scene. The actors are touting Truvada, the only drug approved to prevent the transmission of HIV.
The commercial, aptly titled “I’m on the Pill,” is part of a marketing push that has helped turned the use of Truvada for preventing HIV into a $1.3 billion blockbuster, almost 5% of Gilead’s annual sales. It’s a big reversal for Gilead, just three years ago the company said using Truvada to prevent infection with the virus that causes AIDS did not represent a commercial opportunity. Now, Raymond James analyst Steve Seedhouse estimates this use could generate $2.9 billion in 2020 sales for Gilead, which is in investor disfavor as annual sales of its top-selling hepatitis C drugs have fallen 69% since 2015 to $4.4 billion.
“I’m on the Pill” has shown up on over 385 million screens (ad-jargon: “impressions”) since it first aired in June, according to ad-tracking firm iSpot.TV, which also estimates Gilead spent $13 million during that period placing the spot often in primetime TV slots during shows like The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Family Guy, and Pose, a new FX show with a large transgender cast.
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