Daraprim Price Has Yet to Be Reduced Following 5000% Increase

Turing Pharmaceuticals has yet to reduce the price of Daraprim, despite statements that the company would do so following public outcry over the 5000% increase overnight in the drug’s cost.

Chief Executive Officer Martin Shkreli announced 2 weeks ago that he would scale back the price of the 62-year-old drug used to treat toxoplasmosis, and yet he has not followed through, according to Business Insider. The website checked on the cost of the drug at a local pharmacy, which reported that a 30-day, 30-pill supply of Daraprim would cost about $27,600 or $900 a pill, which includes the wholesale cost along with pharmacy fees.

“So while the price of the drug hasn't gotten any higher since Shkreli hiked it 5,000%, it hasn't gotten any lower since he promised to reduce it either,” Business Insider reported.

Although the overnight price was increased in mid-August after Turing purchased Daraprim, public outcry didn’t occurred until September 20, after the New York Times ran the story “Drug Goes From $13.50 a Tablet to $750, Overnight.”

Following the article, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) and Representative Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md) announced they were investigating the price increase. They sent a letter to Turing asking for information about the significant and sudden price change on a drug that was 62 years old and was used to treat a life-threatening infection.

“This dramatic price increase will have a direct impact on patients’ ability to purchase their needed medications,” they wrote.

In the letter, they regerenced a letter to the company from the Infection Diseases Society of America and the HIV Medicine Association, which estimated the annual cost of treatment under the new pricing structure for Daraprim would cost between $336,000 and $634,500, depending on the patient’s weight.

Sanders and Cummings requested information such as total gross revenues of the company’s sales of Daraprim; a description and valuation of the specific financial and non-financial factors that contributed to Turing’s decision to increase the price of the drug; and the identity of the company official(s) responsible for setting the new price.

“Americans should not have to live in fear that they will die or go bankrupt because they cannot afford to take the life-saving medication they need,” Sanders and Cummings said in a statement.