Turing Pharma Caves; Says Drug Price Will Move In Generally Downward Motion At Some Point In The Future

from the and-will-only-do-so-because-the-public-doesn't-understand-business dept

Martin Shkreli — who became the personification of a deeply-reviled industry thanks to his insanely-exorbitant price hike on a 60-year old drug — has heard the disapproving roar of the crowd and will do… something… at some point in the future… to make things right. Or at least a bit more right-ish.

In an interview with ABC, Shkreli announced Daraprim’s $750/pill price will be rolled back to something less extortionate.

“We’ve agreed to lower the price on Daraprim to a point that is more affordable and is able to allow the company to make a profit, but a very small profit,” he told ABC News. “We think these changes will be welcomed.”

With nothing else to go on (other than Shkreli’s continued assertions that the drug is still underpriced), the public will just have to assume that the new price point, whenever it arrives, will be barely above cost. (Considering it was produced for a $1/pill before Turing’s purchase, one would think a significant reduction in price would still leave plenty of room for profits and additional R&D.)

Turing’s mini-debacle has damaged the pharmaceutical industry. It has drawn even more heat from legislators and presidential candidates. It has even negatively affected more tangible aspects, like stock prices. Shkreli’s actions have also drawn attention to the oft-ignored regulatory procedures that allow companies to fully exploit old drugs and medications, even without the protective power of active patents. Derek Lowe at Science Magazine explains the route to securing post-patent monopolies.

By various means, old generic compounds have ended up as protected species, and several companies have made it their business to take advantage of these situations to the maximum extent possible. The FDA grants market exclusivity to companies that are willing to take “grandfathered” compounds into compliance with their current regulatory framework, and that’s led to some ridiculous situations with drugs like colchicine and progesterone. (Perhaps the worst example is a company that’s using this technique to get ahold of a drug that’s currently being provided at no charge whatsoever).

Combine this with the bottleneck Turing generously refers to as “distribution” (via a single specialty pharmacy or directly from Turing itself) and you have everything you need to demand any amount you want for a lifesaving drug with a limited market. Everything being said about R&D investment is just smoke until proven otherwise.

Following his short statements promising unquantified price drops at an unspecified point in the future, Martin Shkreli — who seemed to relish praising himself/insulting his detractors from this social media platform — took his Twitter ball and went home.

Turns out the market will bear far less than Turing thought, even with the benefits of a tightly-controlled distribution chain and the FDA’s assistance in keeping competitors off the playing field. A whole lot of people who will never use the drug managed to nudge the price downward, and all within 48 hours.

Filed Under: daraprim, drug prices, drugs, martin shkreli, monopoly, pharmaceuticals, pricing
Companies: turing, turing pharmaceutical