Turing Pharmaceuticals At Center of Storm Over Plan to Raise Prices

Turing Pharmaceuticals and its Chief Executive Officer, Martin Shkreli, have reportedly stepped back from their plan to raise the cost of Daraprim, a drug that is used to treat a parasitic infection, by 5,000%.

Turing Pharmaceuticals purchased the rights to Daraprim and almost immediately announced that the price would be increasing from $13.50/pill to $750/pill, which represents an increase of approximately 5,000%. The story quickly spread on social media, which led to coverage from many media outlets.

Martin Shkreli, who was formerly the Chief Executive Officer of Retrophin LLC, was interviewed by multiple media outlets earlier this week and unapologetically declared that Turing Pharmaceuticals would not be backing down on its plan to increase the price of Daraprim to $750/pill, despite the public outcry. Condemnation of the plan was swift, with Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton using the story to details her plans to stop "gouging" in the pharmaceuticals field. Shkreli claimed that the price increase was necessary to fund research and development for his company, and that it was also necessary for his firm to generate a profit.

Earlier this evening, however, Shkreli, who was sued by Retrophin LLC earlier this year for $65 million after the company claimed that he breached his duty of loyalty to the firm, announced that Turing Pharmaceuticals would be pumping the brakes on its plans to dramatically increase the cost of Daraprim. Shkreli hasn't revealed what the new price of the pill would be, but he said that the price would be reduced to a level that would allow his company to "make a small profit". If Shkreli hoping for the story to die down before announcing a price "reduction" that isn't that dramatic? We'll have to see.

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The main story here isn't Turing Pharmaceuticals and Martin Shkreli. The main story is that the cost of many generic drugs have skyrocketed under similar circumstances. According to the National Community Pharmacists Association, "dozens" of generic drugs have seen their costs skyrocket under similar circumstances. ABC News reported earlier in the year that the cost of three different drugs, including albuterol sulfate and doxycycline, increased by a minimum of 2,700%.

While the world is focused on Turing Pharmaceuticals and Martin Shkreli, the bigger picture regarding the pricing of generic drugs also needs to be addressed.

Source: Forbes.com - Greedy Pharma Executive Cancels 5,000% Price Hike -- But He Didn't Fix The Real Problem

Filed under: General Knowledge