The price of Daraprim, a 62-year-old medical treatment used by AIDS patients, has increased by more than 5,000 percent after being acquired by pharmaceutical company Turing Pharmaceuticals for $55 million on August 10.
Since Turing’s acquisition, the medication has changed from $13.50 per tablet to $750 per tablet. The drug treats people with the parasitic disease toxoplasmosis as well as those with compromised immune systems, many of whom are individuals with HIV.
On Sunday, Turing CEO Martin Shkreli answered critics’ questions of why the price has gotten so high on Twitter.
@JohnCFierce It’s a great business decision that also benefits all of our stakeholders. I don’t expect the likes of you to process that. — Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) September 20, 2015
On Monday, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton joined the conversation:
Price gouging like this in the specialty drug market is outrageous. Tomorrow I’ll lay out a plan to take it on. -H https://t.co/9Z0Aw7aI6h
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 21, 2015
Clinton’s tweet led to a 4.7 percent plunge in biotech stocks, according to Bloomberg.
The Infectious Diseases Society of America and HIV Medicine Association wrote an open letter to Turing on Sept. 8 urging the company to reconsider the move. “This cost is unjustifiable for the medically vulnerable patient population in need of this medication and unsustainable for the health care system,” the letter said.
Turing CEO Martin Shkreli has said the company will use the profits from the price increase to develop new treatments for toxoplasmosis and other afflictions to the immune system.
“We’re simply charging the right price that the markets missed, the prior owners have missed, and we’re doing something very good with those profits,” Shkreli told the BBC. “We’re putting them right back in the patient’s’ hands.”
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