When Daraprim; which is an anti-parasitic drug used by AIDS and malaria patients, went from $13.50 a pill to $750 a pill last September, many people were concerned. This is because Daraprim is considered so essential it has been placed on the World Health Organization's list of essential drugs. In addition, the pill still retails for $1.50 for most other countries around the world. As a result, a group of high school students in Australia decided to conduct a year-long study on the inflated prices in the U.S.
The students managed to recreate the drug's key ingredient for only $20 - or $1.50 a pill. This lead the student's project leaders and supporters to criticized the price in the U.S. They questioned why the drug was so expensive if these students managed to create a sizeable amount for a reasonable price. Martin Shkreli, Turing Pharmaceutical's CEO, responded with unimpressed comments questioning the student's product purity and noting that his equipment and staff do not come for free.
Sadly, the more affordable version of the drug will not be available for sale in the U.S. In order to sell a generic form of a drug, it must first be compared with other models due to the "closed distribution model". The "closed distribution model" is a way of controlling the carrying and distribution of the same types of products. However, Turing Pharmaceuticals will not allow this comparison to take place allowing them to control drug distribution and in return maintain the profits of those sold in the in U.S.
This drug is not the only one that experienced price inflation recently. Earlier this year Epipens and many others experienced price increases and were investigated. There has been a lot of discussion over the prices of drugs recently. Questions had been raised about whether these companies should be allowed to not only raise the prices of essential drugs, but to raise the price to unaffordable rates. While there have been talk about decreasing the price of Daraprim, it is easy to question why the price increase was made and accepted in the first place.
Drugs for life-threatening conditions or rare diseases are essential and needed by many people. So, if drugs like Daraprim and epinephrine can experience random price increases at the hands of pharmaceutical companies, how are they able to reach the people they are made to help? If a group of high school students can synthesize key ingredients for much cheaper, why are we seeing such elevated prices? These are questions that need to be asked, and while these companies are often investigated, the freedom for them to make these changes is frightening. These companies hold a lot of power in our healthcare system and it just may be time to rethink how they are regulated.
