Stringer: Make drug execs pay

Comptroller Scott Stringer and the city’s retirement systems said Friday they are pushing for HIV pharmaceutical executives to be stripped of pay because of efforts to charge “exorbitant prices” for life-saving drugs.

The proposal comes after a class-action lawsuit was filed alleging HIV drugmaker Gilead Science used anti-competitive methods to delay generic alternatives to prevention and management drugs for the virus.

The comptroller’s office wrote to Gilead’s board of directors Wednesday calling for it to adopt a measure to allow them to recoup compensation to senior executives for alleged misconduct or failed oversight.

“Ethics matter — and companies should hold their employees accountable when they commit misconduct,” Stringer said in a statement. “There is strong evidence that suggests Gilead purposefully raised drug prices to exorbitant levels — and that people living with HIV were denied the medicine they need to survive. It’s outrageous, and now the company is facing long-term consequences.”

As comptroller, Stringer administers the city’s more than $208 billion in pension funds that flow to retired teachers, firefighters, police and other municipal workers.

As of Aug. 31, the funds had more than $190 million invested in Gilead.

Gilead didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Since Stringer’s first year on the job in 2014, his office has made 18 proposals related to clawing back pay and 11 companies enacted them.