The story of Martin Shkreli and the drug, Daraprim, has been used as an example of drug company greed. Daraprim is used to treat a parasitic disease known as toxoplasmosis, which can be life-threatening in people with compromised immune systems. In 2015, Turing Pharmaceuticals, where Shkreli was CEO, acquired the rights to Daraprim from CorePharma, and promptly raised the price from $12.50 a tablet to $750. The rationale for such an outrageous price hike was that this was a life-saving drug and should be priced accordingly. However, Daraprim is a generic drug, one that has been the market for 70 years! There are numerous other life-saving drugs that are generic and have also been on the market for decades. Yet, these drugs are very modestly priced. Shkreli was vilified for this. Fortunately, Shkreli’s behaviors have not been mimicked – until now.
Aurobindo's Generic Pyrimethamine Receives Approval in the U.S.
Companies founded by notorious “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli have agreed to pay up to $28 million to settle a class-action lawsuit related to claims they illegally thwarted competition to the prescription medication Daraprim after its price was raised by more than 4,000%, according to new court filings.
Vyera Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay up to $40 million to settle charges that it engaged in anticompetitive practices to ward off generics and maintain “monopoly profits” from its more than 4,000% overnight price hike on the toxoplasmosis med Daraprim, according to a release from the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Martin Shkreli to go toe-to-toe with new FTC chair over Daraprim price spikes
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Martin Shkreli didn’t just blog, read up on drug development news and run his biotech business with a contraband cell phone in prison. According to the FTC, he was also coordinating the anticompetitive scheme to shield Daraprim — the drug at the center of a price-gouging controversy that earned him the “Pharma Bro” nickname — from generic rivals.
Martin Shkreli incited a national uproar five years ago when he raised the price of Daraprim by a factor of 56 essentially overnight from $13.50 to $750 per pill. Now that the “Pharma Bro’s” high-priced project has received a generic, it no longer places among the most expensive drugs in the world.
The Toxo Total Care program was created by Oakrum to provide patients with toxoplasmosis and their healthcare providers the quality and service of a branded specialty drug for its authorized generic pyrimethamine 25 mg tablets. Some of the anticipated benefits of the Toxo Total Care program include: