UPDATED: US company Turing Pharmaceuticals has backed down on drastically raising the price of an HIV drug. “There were mistakes made with respect to helping people understand why we took this action. I think that it makes sense to lower the price in response to the anger that was felt by people,” says CEO Martin Shkreli has told NBC News. It's not yet clear what the new price will be. EARLIER: The whopping increase in the price of an HIV drug by its US rights holder will not currently have any impact on anyone who needs it in New Zealand. CEO Martin Shkreli has dismissed criticism of the price hike Turing Pharmaceuticals has sparked outrage by purchasing the rights to Daraprim and raising the price for those who need it in the US from $US13.50 per pill to $US750 overnight. The drug is the standard of care for a food-borne illness called toxoplasmosis, caused by a parasite, which can severely affect those with compromised immune systems. It’s been on the market for 62 years and costs about $US1 to produce. In the US, drug buyers are private insurance companies, and the US Government through the Medicare and Medicaid system. Prices are set by the market. Even those with insurance can now expect to pay $150 per pill out of their own pocket. In New Zealand, the Government’s drug-funding agency Pharmac negotiates with suppliers from around the world on prices. It has a fixed pharmaceutical budget and is currently able to get the best prices through competition among suppliers to land a contract. Pharmac says Daraprim is not registered in New Zealand, but it is listed in the Pharmaceutical Schedule. “It would be supplied under section 29 of the Medicines Act, which means that a clinician would have to prescribe it and source it from an offshore supplier. If they did that it would be subsidised,” a spokesman says. Pharmac doesn’t have any data on its use at the moment, but says it would be “a very, very small-volume product”. Meanwhile Turing Pharmaceuticals is unmoved by the criticism of its price hike, saying it will use the cash it raises for research. CEO Martin Shkreli, a former hedge fund manager, has told Bloomberg TV companies who previously had the rights “were actually giving it away almost”. He has also mocked people on Twitter who questioned the move, calling one reporter "a moron". The issue has raised further concern in New Zealand about the impact of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership on pharmaceuticals, particularly due to potential closer links with the US pharmaceutical system. Though subsidies will remain and New Zealanders won’t be hit personally in the pocket, critics of the agreement say the price the Government pays for certain medications could rise drastically, and there could be much less choice about suppliers.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 23rd September 2015 - 8:43am