Since the news that Turing Pharmaceuticals had jacked up the price of the drug Daraprim by 5,000% broke in September, former CEO Martin Shkreli has become perhaps the most-hated public figure in America, resigned from his job and been arrested on civil and criminal securities fraud charges.
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The congressional review of more than 300,000 pages from Turing Pharmaceuticals and Valeant Pharmaceuticals highlights the internal strategies the companies used to dramatically raise prices of drugs for patients with heart problems or conditions such as AIDS.
Former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli, left, and his new lawyer Benjamin Brafman arrive at court in New York, Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016. He was arrested late previous year on charges related to another pharmaceutical company he previously ran. “They confirm what Americans across the country have experienced firsthand for years – that many drug companies are lining their pockets at the expense of some of the most vulnerable families in our nation”.
HRC is asking its more than 1.5 million members and supporters to keep the pressure on Turing Pharmaceuticals and its current CEO Ron Tilles to roll back the price of the drug immediately and to call for real steps to be taken to ensure lifesaving medications are readily affordable and available.
Turing documents obtained by the House panel, however, show that company officials were concerned that advocates of patients infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS were “sensitive, and action-oriented” and could organize a “backlash from patient advocacy groups” over the price hike.
Other expected witnesses on Thursday include Turing Chief Commercial Officer Nancy Retzlaff and Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX.TO) interim Chief Executive Howard Schiller. In late November, Turing announced discounts of up to 50% for hospitals-where only patients requiring hospitalization would benefit from the reduction-along with smaller, less costly bottles of the drug.
Not long after Turing acquired the rights to the drug, reports began to pour in about patients who were seeing their co-pays skyrocket. He said he paid $2 million for it. “Valeant raised the prices of several of these products multiple times from 2014 to 2015, in some cases by as much as 800%”, according to the Oversight Committee.
Documents show how executives at both companies planned to maximize profits while fending off negative publicity.
“So 5,000 paying bottles at the new price is $375,000,000 – nearly all of it is profit and I think we will get three years of that or more”, Mr. Shkreli wrote in the email to someone the congressional staff identified only as an outside contact.
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Valeant used patient assistance programs to distract attention and justify its price hikes, according to the memo. The drugmaker said it now offers a 30 percent, volume-based discount on the prices of Nitropress and Isuprel. Turing purchased the six-decade-old drug from Impax Laboratories in August for $55 million and promptly raised its price.
