Back in September, a company called Turing Pharmaceuticals acquired a drug called Daraprim, used for toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease. The disease disproportionately affects those with weakened immune systems, such as those with AIDS, so the $13.50 per pill price was already pretty steep.
When Turing raised the price to $750 per pill, there was an international uproar.
Since then, people have been looking for solutions.
A brand new one had just been presented. Drug company Express Scripts has just announced that they have a new treatment option as an alternative to Daraprim. This new treatment would cost just $1.
Of course, Daraprim has the advantage of being FDA approved, which this new drug, Imprimis, is not. It’s going through approval right now.
However, despite its not being approved by the FDA, doctors can still prescribe it as a treatment.
Express Scripts has been very vocal about their decision to collaborate with associations related to toxoplasmosis, including the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) and the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA). With these partnerships, they hope to “help educate physicians on the value of prescribing this viable, far less expensive alternative to Daraprim.”
How do they get this drug so cheap? Chief Medical Officer at Express Scripts, Steve Miller, says there are plenty of advantages.
“Leveraging our expertise to improve access and affordability to an important medication is the right thing to do for HIV patients and others who could benefit from a combination of pyrimethamine and leucovorin,” he said. “We will share our solution with other payers to make sure all appropriate patients around the country have access to the treatment they need at the lowest possible price.”
Turing is not happy with this development. Their Chief Commercial Officer, Nancy Retzlaff, said, “In addition to being potentially unsafe and effective, the compounded product is unnecessary.”
Whatever it is, at least there’s now a cheaper option.
