Local

$94,000 drug costs only $200 to make, Blue Cross and Blue Shield says

North Carolina's largest health insurance company is calling out the drug industry on social media.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield said it wants people to know the truth about how much drug companies charge.

“Like the drug that costs $200 to produce and ends up selling for more than $94,000," Blue Cross said in a YouTube video.

(Click PLAY to watch Blue Cross and Blue Shield's YouTube video)

Blue Cross referred to Harvoni, which is used to treat Hepatitis C.

Action 9 on Monday contacted the company that makes the drug, Gilead Sciences.

“Gilead invests heavily in treatments and cures for seemingly intractable diseases, HIV and HBV for instance, and unmet medical needs," a Gilead spokesperson told Action 9. "The vast majority of our compounds, representing billions of dollars in R&D (research and development), never make it to market. All of our R&D and acquisition costs, those that lead to successful treatments as well as those that do not, are covered by the performance of our commercially viable treatments.

"The Harvoni price point referenced is the wholesale acquisition cost price, or list price, which does not reflect the substantial discounts offered to payers. The volume weighted average price for Harvoni is less than $15,000 per bottle. For Medicaid, the average price per bottle is less than $10,000 for states that provide open access to all patients regardless of fibrosis score. Many patients can be cured in eight weeks, meaning only two bottles are required for a full treatment course.”

Blue Cross cites other drugs that it said went up significantly in price over a two-year period.  It said Alcortin A, which is used to treat skin infections, went up 2,674 percent.

It said Humira, for arthritis and Crohn's disease, went up $10,712, and Glumetza, for diabetes, went up $15,695. The three examples are based on Blue Cross data.

Blue Cross also cites the EpiPen, which made headlines recently for going up in price 400 percent in less than a decade.

"Many prescription drugs that people need to stay healthy come with staggering prices," Blue Cross said in the YouTube video.

"It's (got to) be at a price (where) the general population can afford it," said Lori Giang, who runs MedAssist, a nonprofit that buys medicine and provides it free to people with no insurance.

Giang and Novant Health executive Jesse Cureton don’t solely blame the drug companies.

"We all share in some of the blame,” Cureton said. “Health care is a very complex model, business model.”

That is the drug industry's view as well.

"I think people are really tired of the blame game," said Caitlin Carroll, of the major drug industry lobbying group PhRMA.  "A lot of people don't understand how complicated the supply chain system is and how many factors and different parties are involved in setting the price that a consumer pays at the counter."

Carroll referred to insurance companies, pharmacies and middlemen called pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs.

"There's always going to be a conflict between the people buying, the PBMs, and the drug (companies) and drugstores, the people selling," said Mark Merritt, who runs the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association.

Many drug companies have discount programs.

There are websites dedicated to helping patients connect with the right ones so they can see what specific help is available for them.

Consumer groups recommend three sites in particular:

Read more top trending stories on wsoctv.com: