Compounders don’t need Food and Drug Administration approval to do that, unlike drugmakers making huge batches of drugs on complex production lines.
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Imprimis said it now offers customizable compounded formulations of pyrimethamine and leucovorin in in capsules for as low as $99 for a bottle of 100 capsules. “We are looking at all of these cases where the sole-source generic companies are jacking the price way up”, Baum explained to the AP. The compounded drug isn’t an exact copy; it also includes the ingredient leucovorin, which Imprimis says helps to combat pyrimethamine’s negative effects on bone marrow.
The criticism rose in September following reports that former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli’s Turing Pharmaceuticals hiked the price of Daraprim to $750 after the treatment for parasitic infections had previously been sold for $13.50.
Turing, a privately held biopharmaceutical company, acquired the exclusive rights to market Daraprim in the USA in August from Impax Laboratories.
Forbes Magazine branded him “the most hated man in America”, and critics hope he’s got his comeuppance. The medication has faced a competition this week as the biomedical company Imprimis Pharmaceuticals of San Diego has introduced a competitor to the medication with $1 per capsule.
“This is not the first time a sole-supply generic drug – especially one that has been approved for use as long as Daraprim – has had its price increased suddenly and to a level that may make it unaffordable”, he said.
This is the drug produced by Turing Pharmaceuticals, whose CEO came under fire for that sharp price hike. Imprimis, which primarily makes compounded drugs to treat cataracts and urological conditions, will work with health insurers and prescription benefit managers in each state to make its new capsules and other compounded generic medicines widely available, Baum said.
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Shares in Imprimis surged 17.4 percent, closing at $7.01 on the Nasdaq.
