$750 drug that sells for $1 to government agencies underscores need for drug pricing reform, says AHF

The USA-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has denounced the lack of regulation and pharmaceutical industry greed that has led to record drug prices for specialty medications and billions of dollars in profits for drug manufacturers.

Most recently, the AHF noted, Turing Pharmaceuticals chief executive Martin Shkreli made international headlines this week for defending the company’s decision to raise the price of Daraprim (pyrimethamine) - a medication used to treat toxoplasmosis in AIDS patients - over 5,000% after recently acquiring the rights to the drug. While drug companies have increasingly introduced new specialty medications at astronomical prices - including Gilead Science’s (Nasdaq: GILD) $1,000-per-pill Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) or $94,500 cost of Harvoni (sofosbuvir and ledipasvir) - Turing purchased the 62-year-old Daraprim from Impax Laboratories for $55 million (The Pharma Letter August 10). Overnight, the company priced the drug at $750 per pill until widespread public outrage prompted Mr Shkreli to announce a yet-to-be-determined price reduction.

Prior to being purchased by Switzerland-headquartered Turing, Daraprim was available through the federal government’s 340B Drug Discount Program  at $1 per 100 tablets—one penny per pill—a price AHF Pharmacy confirmed when it purchased quantities of the drug at that price this past Monday morning through 340 B. The vast gap between the price government agencies were allowed to pay for Daraprim compared to cost charged to private insurers underscores the need for increased government oversight and regulation of drug company pricing.