Billionaire Mark Cuban’s New Online Pharmacy, Generic Drugs at Affordable Prices
Mark Cuban, Billionaire entrepreneur, Shark Tank investor, and owner of Dallas Mavericks has started a new venture in online pharmaceuticals. The online pharmacy costplusdrugs.com will be the store for hundreds of generic drugs.
Mark’s strategy is to make cost of drugs transparent. The digital pharmacy promises to only mark up prices by 15% plus a pharmacist fee. Mark tweeted last week, “If you are looking for lower pricing on your generic drug purchases, go to http://costplusdrugs.com and sign up ! All drugs are priced at cost plus 15% !”
Cost Plus Drugs will be a competitor in a world of ever-rising drug prices. Though the pharmacy does not accept health insurance, their promise is to still beat the price of your local pharmacy. CEO of Cost Plus Drugs, Alex Oshmyansky said in a statement “The markup on potentially lifesaving drugs that people depend on is a problem that can’t be ignored.”
Drugs such as imatinib, which are critical for leukemia patients can be sold for as much as $17.10 compared to its retail price of $2,502.50. Sky rocketing drug prices have long been a problem in the U.S.
According to The Association for Accessible Medicines, annual price of specialty drugs has tripled over the last ten years. This has resulted in nearly 1 in 4 Americans having trouble affording prescription drugs, according Kaiser Family Foundation poll. Higher prices has resulted in higher deductibles, and ultimately higher costs for medicare which ultimately comes from tax dollars. Will Mark Cuban’s company be a solution to this problem? Only time will tell.
