On-Demand Healthcare EconomyThe U.S. government could cure most Americans suffering from hepatitis C infections if it simply bought drug maker Gilead Sciences on the stock market rather than purchasing its products in the drug market. Gilead has drawn fire for the high price of its hepatitis C drugs, Sovaldi and Harvoni, which currently cost more than $500 per pill but cure the underlying hepatitis C liver infection. But, counterintuitively, buying Gilead outright on the open market could lower hepatitis C drug costs per patient to one-third their current level. The government won’t be picking winners and losers–in hepatitis C the clinical market has spoken and Gilead has won greater than 80% market share. The ex-U.S. hepatitis C business is worth $17B by our estimate.

Source: Forbes January 17, 2017 11:00 UTC