The head of a US pharmaceutical company has defended his company's decision to raise the price of a 62-year-old medication used by Aids patients by over 5,000%. Turing Pharmaceuticals acquired the rights to Daraprim in August.
CEO Martin Shkreli has said that the company will use the money it makes from sales to research new treatments. The drug is used treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic affliction that affects people with compromised immune systems.
After Turning's acquisition, a dose of Daraprim in the US increased from $13.50 (£8.70) to $750. The pill costs about $1 to produce, but Mr Shkreli, a former hedge fund manager, said that does not include other costs like marketing and distribution.
BBC is reporting on a massive price hike of an essential drug used by AIDS patients:
The head of a US pharmaceutical company has defended his company's decision to raise the price of a 62-year-old medication used by Aids patients by over 5,000%. Turing Pharmaceuticals acquired the rights to Daraprim in August. CEO Martin Shkreli has said that the company will use the money it makes from sales to research new treatments.
The drug is used treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic affliction that affects people with compromised immune systems. After Turning's acquisition, a dose of Daraprim in the US increased from $13.50 (£8.70) to $750. The pill costs about $1 to produce, but Mr Shkreli, a former hedge fund manager, said that does not include other costs like marketing and distribution. "We needed to turn a profit on this drug," Mr Shkreli told Bloomberg TV. "The companies before us were just giving it away almost." On Twitter, Mr Shkreli mocked several users who questioned the company's decision, calling one reporter "a moron".
Why not switch to a generic pyrimethamine tablet? They don't exist right now, according to the New York Times (story includes examples of other recent price hikes):
With the price now high, other companies could conceivably make generic copies, since patents have long expired. One factor that could discourage that option is that Daraprim's distribution is now tightly controlled, making it harder for generic companies to get the samples they need for the required testing.
The switch from drugstores to controlled distribution was made in June by Impax, not by Turing. Still, controlled distribution was a strategy Mr. Shkreli talked about at his previous company as a way to thwart generics.
The drug is also used to treat malaria and appears on the World Health Organization Model List of Essential Medicines. Toxoplasmosis infections are a feline gift to the world.
(Score: 3, Funny) by mendax on Tuesday September 22 2015, @07:45PM
I thought my evil black cat was the feline gift to the world. Certainly the world revolves around her. The toxoplasmosis she has most likely given me is only an added bonus.
But on a serious note, there is an entire ring of Hell waiting for Martin Shkreli. Anyone who can morally justify such outrageous pricing certainly deserves to be Satan's prison bitch.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Tuesday September 22 2015, @09:45PM
Shkreli sure makes me wish I wasn't an atheist, but chances are, he'll have a great life being super wealthy and then when he dies, nothing. Justice can only be had in this life, sadly.
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Tuesday September 22 2015, @10:55PM
I am not your cat.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 2) by mendax on Wednesday September 23 2015, @03:17AM
That's good. She doesn't like having competition.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.