Turing Pharma CEO is Lightening Rod for Stakeholder Pricing Wrath

Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO is Lightening Rod for industry Pricing Wrath

One man has turned the formerly selective wrath against increasing drug prices into a tornado of anger against the drug industry. Turing Pharmaceuticals’ actions reflect the worst in greed on the part of a company that claims to be in biotech. So much so that BIO won’t accept them as members of their group and PhRMA was quick to point out that they are not members of their organization.

The company’s CEO Martin Shkreli led the acquisition of Daraprim (pyrimethamine), a long off-patent drug from Impax, with clear intention of making a killing on the sale of the drug with 5-fold price increase. A prior owner had already increased the price of this 62-year old drug from $1 to $13.50 but didn’t generate the level of heated response and social media coverage that Shkreli heavy-handedly managed. This flareup generated a $145 billion dollar (10%)loss to Biotech.

There is no alternative for this life-saving drug for treating toxoplasmosis, a potentially deadly parasitic infection affecting infants, people with HIV/AIDS and cancer patients. Shkreli’s explanation that the wealth generated by this drug’s sales would be used for the company to develop an improved replacement drug fell on disbelieving ears. Physicians note that there is no problem with Daraprim that requires replacement.

In response to widespread public disgust with this act, Hillary Clinton is calling for legislation to stop “price gouging” on part of specialty drug companies. The Biotechnology indices fell more than 10% in the week following call for pricing controls of some fashion. It will now be a task of Pharma and biotech diplomacy and public relations to bring this whirlwind under control and focus stakeholders’ venting at Shkreli rather than entire industry. This event has further loosened talk of limiting pricing which could become a major political issue in 2016 election.

Coming Week’s Life Science Events in Bay Area

• Bio2Device Group, Tuesday Morning, Sept. 29, 2015; Topic: “The Business Side of Regulatory Affairs ;” Speaker: Patrick Lee, Senior Consultant, Navigant Consulting
• GGPF, Tuesday Evening, Sept. 29, 2015; Topic: “Slot Die Coating Technology & How Precision Fluid Coating Impacts Optical and Energy Storage Products;” Speaker: Mark Miller, Co-Owner, Coating Tech Slot Dies
• Palo Alto AWIS, Tuesday Evening, Sept. 29, 2015; Event: Networking Event
• BVS SF Biotech Community, Wednesday Evening, Sept. 30, 2015; Event: BVS SF Biotech Community Event
• xTalks Free Webinar, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015; Topic: “Talent Management Solutions to the CRA Shortage: Investing in a Global Talent Pool;” Speakers: John Avender, Associate Director, Clinical Performance, inVentiv Health Clinical; Michael L. Jimmink, Vice President, Strategic Resourcing, inVentiv Health Clinical; Joe Mills, Senior Director, Global Recruitment Center, inVentiv Health Clinical
• BioPharma Consortium and French BioBay, Thursday Evening, Oct. 1, 2015; Event: “2015 Fall Fling Mixer”
• PBSS, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015; Topic: “Cancer Immunotherapy: A Game Changer for Cancer Treatment – Breakthroughs in Science, Translational Medicine, Clinical Development & Latest Trends in Oncology Practice and Business Partnerships”
• Medtech Frontiers, Thursday Evening, Oct. 1, 2015; Topic: “Digital Pathology: Perspective of a Practicing Pathologist”

You can download details for the above events in a complete list of upcoming events and jobs by right clicking on Audreys Picks September 27, 2015 and JobsThatCrossedMyDeskThroughSept. 27, 2015.

Note that I am not able to send my blog and lists directly to you as I did for over 10 years. You can access them by reading my weekly blog and downloading my lists at https://audreysnetwork.wordpress.com/. You can also access via my website at www.audreysnetwork.com.

Audrey