How To Do It Legally…

There’s a way around this….
This is how far one Express Scripts Holding Co. executive was willing to go to secure inexpensive versions of Gilead Sciences Inc.’s hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, unavailable to U. S. consumers under federal drug import and patent laws.
His plan: Dock a cruise ship flying an Indian flag off the coast of Miami. Stock the ship with versions of Sovaldi sold in India for $83,000 less than the U. S. retail price for 12 weeks of treatment. Ferry U. S. patients to the boat and send them home with the potentially life-saving medicines at a huge discount.
The only wrinkle in his plan wasn’t the absurdity of a pharmacy benefit manager manning and operating a cruise ship full of drugs from India. The problem, after doing some quick research into the idea, was that it would probably violate U. S. drug re-importation laws that limit the value of drugs brought into the country to $1,500 — the price of one and a half Sovaldi tablets in the U. S., said Steve Miller, chief medical officer at Express Scripts, who came up with the idea.

This post was published at Market-Ticker on 2015-06-02.