TIFFANY

AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) has agreed to provide its breakthrough, $1,000-a-day hepatitis C treatment to state-based HIV drug programs at a substantial discount, according to a group that negotiates drug pricing for the programs. The ADAP Crisis Task Force negotiates for the 50-plus such programs and served about 150,000 patients in June 2013, said Britten Pund, associate director of health-care access for the National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors. The group doesn’t have any deal with Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD), which sells the competing medicines Sovaldi and Harvoni. AbbVie’s drug, Viekira Pak, requires patients to take more pills a day than Gilead’s treatment. “The task force had previously tried to negotiate with Gilead on the price of Sovaldi, and Gilead had declined to negotiate,” Pund said in a telephone interview. “We did not have a specific conversations about Harvoni, but we hope to reignite those conversations.” Cara Miller, a Gilead spokeswoman, declined to comment. About 30 percent of people with HIV are also estimated to be infected with hepatitis C, according to the group. AbbVie and Gilead have been negotiating with insurers and pharmacy benefit managers to gain traction on lists of drugs covered by health insurers and state programs. Aetna Inc., for example, announced a deal Friday with Gilead giving preference to its drugs.