Replies to post #238182 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[F6]

Stephanie -- just more invisible hand of the free market doing God's work -- . . .

such price increases, not possibly 'justified' in any sense, should be categorically illegal, with severe penalties -- as soon as the first person dies due to an inability to get Daraprim thanks to Shkreli's outrageous price-gouging, Shkreli should forfeit every last penny of his net worth to the government as compensation for the costs he imposed on the healthcare system, and he shouuld be locked up in solitary for the rest of his miserable life with no chance of parole -- and his company should be seized and nationalized to resume selling Daraprim at the original, reasonable price

[arizona1]

WATCH: Ex-hedge funder who hiked AIDS pill cost by 5,500 percent says drug ‘still underpriced’



Appearing on Bloomberg TV, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company that recently hiked the price of a drug used for critically ill infants and AIDS patients by 5,500 percent , defended the price increase by promising better things to come for future patients.

Martin Shkreli, 32, the founder and chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, recently purchased the rights to Daraprim and immediate increased the cost from $13.50 to $750 per pill.

Asked why the huge increase in cost, Shkreli explained that the old companies who owned the drug were “practically giving it away almost,” and he needs to turn a profit.

Noting that the pill sold for $13.50 and the course of treatment “to save your life was only a $1,000,” Shrkeli said he had to make a change.

“We know, these days, in modern pharmaceuticals, cancer drugs can cost $100,000 or more, whereas these drugs can cost a half of a million dollars,” he explained. “Daraprim is still under-priced relative to its peers.”

Asked if the pill really only costs $1 to manufacture, Shkreli agreed and said, “It costs very little to make Daraprim.”

Shkreli then listed off manufacturing, distribution, and FDA costs as well as paying the people “who make it to specifications.”

Pressed even further on the $750 cost per pill, the CEO defended the price by noting how much it brought into the pharmaceutical company annually.

“This drug was making $5 million in revenue,” he said with a smile. “And I don’t think you can find a drug company on this planet that can make money on $5 million in revenue.”

Shkreli stated that the drug is made for a “very very tough disease.”

“It requires a lot of attention and focus. The drug company needs to partner with the patients and make sure that it’s a very cared for community. And that costs a lot of money too,” pointing out that the company also “gives away” the drug for $1 for those who can’t afford it.

Shkreli added: “Patients now have a powerful ally in our company.”

Watch video below from Bloomberg TV:
http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/watch-ex-hedge-funder-who-hiked-aids-pill-cost-by-5500-percent-says-drug-still-underpriced/

[StephanieVanbryce]

Clinton's Tweet on High Drug Prices Sends Biotech Stocks Down

Drew Armstrong and Robert Langreth
September 21, 2015 — 11:16 AM PDT


Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
Photographer: Darren McCollester/Getty Images


Index falls after Clinton says she'll release drug price plan

Turing Pharma CEO defends decision to raise drug price 50-fold

Biotechnology stocks fell Monday after Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted that she would release a plan to combat the high cost of prescription drugs.

The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index fell 4.7 percent to 3,556.58 at 1:08 p.m. in New York, the biggest intraday drop since since Aug. 24, with most of the decline coming after Clinton’s comment on Twitter. Health-care stocks were the worst-performing subgroup on the broader Nasdaq index.

"Price gouging like this in the specialty drug market is outrageous," Clinton tweeted at 10:56 a.m. "Tomorrow I’ll lay out a plan to take it on."



Clinton was responding to reports about how Turing Pharmaceuticals AG in August acquired an older antibiotic drug, Daraprim, and subsequently raised the price by more than 50-fold.

Turing’s Chief Executive Officer and Founder Martin Shkreli said the drug, which once sold for $13.50 per pill and for which Turing now charges $750, is still a bargain even at the new higher price. Patients typically take the drug for at least several weeks.

"This drug saves your life for $50,000," Shkreli said in an interview in New York. "It is still a bargain for health insurers. At this price, is it a no-brainer." The drug is very inexpensive for Turing to manufacture, Shkreli said during an interview Monday with Bloomberg TV, though there are other administrative and regulatory costs for the company.

About 2,000 Americans use Daraprim each year, which treats the disease toxoplasmosis. While the parasite that causes the disease is common, it doesn’t usually cause symptoms, and typically only needs to be treated in patients with compromised immune systems.

Many drugs for rare diseases have to be taken continuously for years, and cost $100,000 to $500,000 a year. By contrast, Daraprim cures patients in about six weeks, limiting the cost, Shkreli said.
Higher Costs?

Joel Gallant, a doctor and the former chairman of the HIV Medicine Association, disputed Shkreli’s comments about how the drug is used and for how long. HIV patients are particularly susceptible to toxoplasmosis, and many patients take the drug not for weeks, but remain on lower doses for months or years.

"This is hundreds of thousands of dollars," Gallant said, referring to the cost for HIV patients with the disease.

"They are not in the game for biomedical research," he said in an interview. "They are getting exclusive rights to a cheap drug and raising the price because they can." Because of the cost, hospitals may not be able to stock the drug, causing delays in treatment.
Aggressive Pricing

Turing’s price increase risks making Shkreli’s company a poster child for aggressive pricing by the industry, especially after drugmakers have already been criticized for the cost of medicines to treat cancer, hepatitis C and other conditions.

A drug price plan could be a part of a group of health proposals from Clinton, who said Sunday on the television program "Face the Nation" that she had several ideas on health care.

"I’m going to address them this week, starting with how we’re going to try to control the cost of skyrocketing prescription drugs," she said. "It’s something that I hear about wherever I go."

The index was already vulnerable and Clinton’s tweet was likely a major factor in the decline, said John Fraunces, portfolio manager of Turner Medical Sciences Fund, said by phone. "Pricing is a theme that seems to be of growing concern in health care area, ourselves included."

Terry Haines, a political analyst with Evercore ISI, didn’t think Clinton could actually have an impact. "Regardless of what any Democratic candidate says about drug pricing, his or her ability to make that a reality as president is close to zero." Haines said in a note to clients that he doubted a drug pricing proposal could get through Congress.
Research

Shkreli said that unlike many other drugmakers that also take huge price increases on old drugs, his company is investing in research to come up with better drug for toxoplasmosis. Researchers at Turing have identified several new candidate drugs, one of which could begin human trials next year, he said. He said he wants to come out with a better version of Daraprim with higher cure rates or fewer side effects.

Gallant, the HIV doctor, said Daraprim is already highly effective in combination with other drugs. "No one has been clamoring" for more toxoplasmosis drug research, he said.

Turing "is being criticized for trying to stay alive," Shkreli said. "It is very misplaced anger." At the old price, there was no way to turn a profit, he said.

Shkreli said the company had put assistance systems in place to make sure that all patients who need the drug can get it even if their insurance company won’t pay for it.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-21/clinton-s-tweet-on-high-drug-prices-sends-biotech-stocks-down

Well HELL Shkreli! Go to republican congress and get a BIG subsidy! ... I'm shocked the pharmaceutical corps don't already get them!

[fuagf]

Uproar over price-gouging for old drug shows why alternative media sources are needed

by Egberto Willies for Daily Kos
Sun Sep 27, 2015 at 04:00 PM PDT



[...]

Big drug manufacturers and financial sharks have been buying up generic drug companies and/or the rights to drugs that are way past their patent life for some time now. This was never done in secret. Secrecy, however, was implicitly provided by much of the traditional mainstream media. Yes, one could find much of this information inside the bowels of many publications. It may even have been touched on here and there on radio or television. But the gravity of this practice and the harm that it causes were never given the importance they deserved. Keep reading for more.

FierceBiotech explains the reason why the rights to Daraprim were purchased:

--
Since founding Turing last year, Shkreli has taken a page from what made Retrophin a high-profile–and controversial–player among small biotech companies. Retrophin’s stated goal was ferreting out value in biopharma by acquiring assets with potential in rare and neglected diseases, a process that can mean acquiring an underused drug and jacking up its cost to take advantage of rare disease pricing.
--

Read in context of the effect it has on us all, it's clear that this drug story is a huge one. Yet it somehow morphed into a two-day, hyperbolic story that concentrated more on a snotty, precocious 32-year-old trying to make a sleazy buck. It didn't expose the major problem at the heart of this practice.

VIDEO

Watch any of the major networks and you'll see a seemingly continuous parade of drugs being marketed like candy. Many of the drugs have no business being advertised on TV, as the average citizen without a medical degree cannot discern whether said drugs should even be considered.

The drug ads serve a dual purpose. First, they create a false market as patients request a specific drug, instead of doctors deciding if said drug is best. Second, these ads serve as crack to the corporate media: Mainstream media channels get addicted to the high profits from drug advertising. Does anyone believe the traditional media will run any stories or investigative report on an industry it is beholden to? That's very unlikely.

MORE .. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/09/27/1424835/-Uproar-over-price-gouging-for-old-drug-shows-why-alternative-media-sources-are-needed?detail=hide

[fuagf]

Daraprim drug's key ingredient recreated by high school students in Sydney for just $20

By Raveen Hunjan

Updated about 11 hours ago

Video: Sydney students create drug for $US20 that would retail in the US for at least $US35,000. (ABC News)

For $US20, a group of high school students has created 3.7 grams of an active ingredient used in the
medicine Daraprim, which would sell in the United States for between $US35,000 and $US110,000.

Key points:

* Sydney Grammar students recreate Pyrimethamine in school lab at just $20 cost

* Daraprim retails in the tens of thousands in the United States

* Drug used to treat parasitic infection in people with weak immune systems

Pyrimethamine, the active ingredient in Daraprim, treats a parasitic infection in people with weak immune systems such as pregnant women and HIV patients.

In August 2015, the price of Daraprim in the US rose from $US13.50 per tablet to $US750 when Turing Pharmaceuticals, and its controversial then-chief executive Martin Shkreli, acquired the drug's exclusive rights and hiked up the price.

Since then, the 17-year-olds from Sydney Grammar have worked in their school laboratory to create the drug cheaply in order to draw attention to its inflated price overseas, which student Milan Leonard said was "ridiculous".

"It makes sense that if you're putting billions of dollars into research for a drug like this, you
should be able to reap some profit, but to do something like this … it's just not just," he said.

Milan described the moment he realised he and his classmates had been successful.

"It was ecstatic, it was bliss, it was euphoric," he said.

"After all of this time spent working and chemistry being such a high and low, after all the lows, after all the downs, being able to make this drug, it was pure bliss."

Fellow student Brandon Lee said he could not believe the result after a year of work.

"At first there was definitely disbelief," he said.

"We spent so long and there were so many obstacles that we, not lost hope, but it surprised us like 'oh, we actually made this material' and 'this can actually help people out there'.

"So it was definitely disbelief but then it turned in to happiness as we realised we finally got to our main goal."


Photo: The 17-year-olds from Sydney Grammar recreated Pyrimethamine in their high school laboratory.

Turing Pharmaceuticals continue to sell the only FDA-approved form of the drug in the US, and last year, said federal and state health schemes answered questions of access and affordability.

Following backlash, the company lowered the cost by 50 per cent for hospitals.

University of Sydney research chemist Alice Williamson supported the boys' work through an online research-sharing platform Open Source Malaria, and said they had done "fantastically well".

"The original route that we got, so the original recipe if you like to make this molecule, was from a patent that was referenced on Wikipedia," Dr Williamson said.

"Now of course we checked to see if it looked reasonable … but the route that was up actually had one step that involved a really dangerous chemical.

"The boys had to navigate a difficult step and do this in a different way, and they've managed to do that, and they've managed to do that in their high school laboratory."

In most countries, including Australia, Daraprim is sold for between $1 to $2 per pill.

A second US-based company, Imprimis Pharmaceuticals, made an alternative compound to Daraprim — sold for US$1 a dose — but the drug is not FDA-approved.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-30/daraprim-nsw-students-create-drug-martin-shkreli-sold/8078892

[F6]

Martin Shkreli Gets Suspended From Twitter After Cyber-Stalking Writer
“He’s an entitled creep and absolutely deserves to have his account suspended — perhaps indefinitely.”
01/08/2017
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/martin-shkreli-suspended-from-twitter_us_5872a046e4b02b5f858933ba?1hqhimvzj585v1jor [with embedded video, and comments]

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