One of the bestselling medical drugs of all time has come off patent. The result could mean lower costs for those who need the drug as a treatment option. Enter Mark Cuban and his Cost Plus Drug Company, which announced a new initiative Thursday.
What Happened: Cuban launched the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company in 2022 to help lower the cost of medicines for consumers.
On Thursday, Cuban’s company announced a partnership with Coherus BioSciences Inc CHRS to offer customers Yusimry beginning in July 2023. Yusimry is a biosimilar of Humira.
“Humira is the top-selling medicine of all time, but for those without insurance or who are underinsured, this therapy and other biologic medicines have been out of reach due to price,” Cost Plus Drug Company CEO Alex Oshmyansky said.
Oshmyansky said the company is ready to “disrupt the high-cost biologic space.”
Cost Plus Drug Company will offer Yusimry to customers at a price of $569.27, not including dispensing and shipping fees. The biosimilar will also be included in a prescription benefit program called Team Cuban Card.
“Cost Plus Drugs is saving patients hundreds and thousands of dollars a month by pricing our medications fairly at our cost plus 15%,” Cuban said. “Adding Yusimry, a biosimilar of Humira, to Cost Plus Drugs will extend these savings to biologics. This is just our first step in making biologics affordable for patients.”
Cuban shared his optimism about the news on Twitter.
“The game just changed,” Cuban tweeted.
Yusimry will be the first biologic product offered to Cost Plus customers.
“We believe there is a large, unmet need for improved access and affordability for patients in the U.S. health care system that together Cost Plus Drugs and Yusimry can help address,” Coherus CEO Denny Lanfear said. “This agreement is part of our biosimilar strategy to leverage our excellence in manufacturing and supply chain management.”
Related Link: Mark Cuban Shares Worst Shark Tank Investment And One That Had A Surprising Return
Why It’s Important: Cost Plus Drug Company has taken the pharmaceutical market head-on with the goal of offering lower costs for drugs and prescription products to consumers. The platform carries over 1,000 generic and brand drugs offered to customers via mail delivery.
Benzinga recently asked its Twitter users what costly items they believe should be free. Healthcare in the U.S. was one of the leading vote-getters. While Cost Plus Drugs isn’t free, it’s helping to disrupt the sector with prescriptions available at a fraction of the current costs.
Cuban has said previously that he was inspired to launch Cost Plus Drugs by Martin Shkreli, known as the “pharma bro.” Shkreli famously raised the prices of cancer drugs by 5,000%, leading to public outrage.
Humira is an immunology treatment for conditions like Rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, psoriasis and more. Humira is owned by AbbVie Inc ABBV and has been one of the best-selling drugs for years.
In 2021, Humira generated $20.7 billion in sales, ranking second only to the COVID-19 vaccines.
Humira lost patent protection in early 2023 in the U.S. and Coherus is one of several companies looking to eat into AbbVie’s market share. In 2018, European biosimilars launched and were able to eat into international market share.
Over 20 years, Humira has made $200 billion in revenue, according to NPR. The loss of patent protection on Humira is seen as a potential key development for biosimilars, which are similar to generic drugs but are harder to replicate and manufacture than pills.
According to Reuters, the monthly cost of Humira is $6,922. An estimate from Health Care Cost Institute said $15 billion was spent by employers in 2020 on Humira. Employers could see benefits from the new biosimilars of the bestselling medicine as well.
A recent note from a Guggenheim analyst highlighted the strength of AbbVie's non-Humira business, with several blockbuster drugs potentially offsetting the loss of Humira revenue. In 2022, AbbVie guided for a potential 45% drop in Humira revenue in 2023.
AbbVie shares are up over 200% over the last 10 years. The company was spun off from Abbott Laboratories ABT in 2013. Abbott shares are up 171% over the last ten years.
Photo: Gage Skidmore on flickr
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