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Medicine that costs $1 to make raised in price from $13.50 to $750.00
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.
Cost of Daraprim Medication Raised By Over 50 Times
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: 0, Offtopic) by kurenai.tsubasa on Tuesday September 22 2015, @10:25PM
And why not jack prices sky-high? The patient will never see the bill; all they'll see is their insurance premium go up and benefits go down. And why would insurers care? We're now mandated to buy their products. This seems to me like a legal way to avoid the 10% (was it 10%?) overhead cap Nixon/Romney/Obamacare imposes. All that remains to be seen is whether companies who do this keep all that gravy or if there's some backroom deals and money laundering to send some of that gravy over to the higher-ups at insurance companies.
Well played! A fool and his money are soon parted. We can thank the Ds for being the patsy to implement Obamacare and the Rs for essentially diluting and polarizing any debate that might have been had with FUD and feet dragging. The American public that insists on voting R and D only are the fools.
Where are the SJWs when we need them? Here, let Tsubasa help! I've got an itch to do some social justice keyboard warrioring today! Malaria. Where is malaria a problem? Africa. Black people. HIV. Which demographics suffer disproportionately from HIV? Black people and homosexuals. Am… er… SJWs, attack!
(Score: 2, Interesting) by JavaDevGuy on Wednesday September 23 2015, @12:09AM
Then why in the social UK National Health service does this drug only cost $0.66 per pill?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 23 2015, @01:34AM
Because they didn't write regulations which could be exploited like IE6.
Honestly, this company is doing us all a big solid by pointing out how broken the system is. Now maybe we can get some bright politicians to fix the situation and maybe get some of our so-called intellectual property rights back.
Nah, never happen. But I won't blame them for taking advantage of government idiocy. I blame the government. And vote out incumbents.
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday September 23 2015, @06:43AM
regulations which could be exploited like IE6.
I am in love with an AC. Anyone who could come up with this phrase deserves undying adoration. Well played, AC, well played!