, Columnist
The Loophole Strikes Back at Martin Shkreli
The PBM found a way around the Daraprim price hike.
This article is for subscribers only.
Loopholes allowed Martin Shkreli's Turing Pharmaceuticals to raise the price of a decades-old drug 5000 percent and keep generic competitors off the market. Now a different loophole may force him to lower that price.
Pharmacy Benefit manager Express Scripts is partnering with San Diego-based Imprimis Pharmaceuticals to cover a version of the drug, Daraprim, which fights toxoplasmosis, for about $1 a pill. With $30 billion in quarterly revenue, Express will add heft to tiny Imprimis' efforts to provide a cheap Daraprim alternative. Shkreli, who is standing by Daraprim's price hike, has manged to provoke a player that might actually foil his strategy.