Cash Hungry CEO Hikes HIV Drug Price by 5000%

It’s no secret that the world of private medicine is a serious money spinner. While companies claim to save lives, they also make an eye watering fortune in the process. Most of the time the venal ploys fly under the radar however when the CEO of New York-based Turing Pharmaceuticals managed to hike the price of an AIDS and cancer drug by 5000% overnight, the world was in uproar.

The drug in question is called daraprim, and is used to fight a parasitic infection known as toxoplasmosis. The life threatening disease can be lethal to victims with weakened immune systems, particularly patients suffering from AIDS or cancer. While the pills were previously priced at £8.70 a pop, the cost has now skyrocketed to £485 per pill. This represents a 5000% increase and means that the annual cost of treatment could now add up to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Cashing in on HIV

So what caused the spike? It’s all thanks to Martin Shkreli, founder and CEO at Turing Pharmaceuticals. For decades the drug was manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline however in 2010 it sold the rights on to CorePharma which was later purchased by Impax Laboratories. Last month, Shkreli jumped on a profit puller when the exclusive rights to the drug went up for grabs.

While Shkreli is set to enjoy one hell of a bank balance, medical experts are outraged at the fact that it may force hospitals to use alternative, less effective therapies. Even patients with medical insurance may not be able to afford treatment, while uncovered individuals will simply have to go without.

Medical experts speak up for the people

In the wake of the shocking price hike the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the HIV Medicine Association penned a joint letter to Turing, urging him to reconsider his company’s outrageous pricing system.

“This cost is unjustifiable for the medically vulnerable patient population in need of this medication and unsustainable for the health care system,” they wrote.  

Shkreli rebounded with the assertion that Turing Pharmaceuticals plans to use profits to develop more effective toxoplasmosis treatments, claiming that the drug is so rarely used that the public impact will be minimal.

“This isn’t the greedy drug company trying to gouge patients,” he stresses. “It is us trying to stay in business.”

Whether pulling in piles of cash or working for not for profit organisations, scientists are continually revolutionising new ways to improve global health. In the article  ‘Liver Disease: Developments in the Understanding and Assessment of Liver Fibrosis’ authors explore new treatments being developed for major causes of liver disease including alcohol abuse, viral hepatitis B/C infections and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NALFD).