Countering all these points, Shkreli said that raising the price of Daraprim was necessary, as the drug was “underpriced relative to its peers”.
Advertisement
Turing acquired an older antibiotic drug, Daraprim, in August and soon after that raised the price to $750 a pill from $13.50.
“It isn’t like this is a new drug where companies have to recoup the possible millions spent in research and development”.
Turing was immediately tackled by The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) who wrote a joint letter early in September.
Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli told ABC News on Tuesday that the new price would make Daraprim more accessible, although he did not say what the new price for the drug would be.
This monthly cap would limit what insurance companies could ask patients to contribute towards for drugs that treat chronic medical conditions.
After the price hike, Shkreli took to TV in an attempt to clarify the necessity of the 5,500 percent increase and voice his support of a profit-driven healthcare market. The drug costs about $1 to make and had been selling for $13.50 per pill.
“Traditionally, this has been the go-to drug since the 1950s for toxoplasmosis“, said Wingard.
“Well, it depends on how you define so drastically, because the drug was unprofitable at the former price, so any company selling it would be losing money”, he told “CBS This Morning”.
Advertisement
The drug is used for people with compromised immune systems, like those with AIDS or cancer, as well as infants and pregnant women. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings introduced the “Medicaid Generic Drug Price Fairness Act” in July, which seeks to address possible price gouging. The group said that the cost was not justifiable for medically vulnerable patients who were in need of the medication and further that it was not sustainable for American health care system.
