Turning the tables: company that increased HIV drug price by 5000% suffers £9.7 m net loss

Turing Pharmaceuticals posted a £9.7 million ($14.6m) net loss in the third quarter of 2015 and is now set to reduce the cost of Daraprim by 50% according to the company and The Wall Street Journal

Turing bought the US rights to Daraprim in August 2015 and raised the cost of the tablet by 5000% from £8.95 ($13.50) to £475 ($750) per tablet according to a report by The Independent.

Daraprim is a drug used to treat malaria and toxoplasmosis parasitic infections in pregnant women and patients with weakened immune systems or HIV.

However for the third quarter of 2015 - the three months that cover the time Turning acquired Daraprim’s US marketing rights – the company posted a net loss of £9.7 million ($14.6m) reported The Independent.

Now, Turing is drawing up plans to discount Daraprim as much as 50% to hospitals, a report by The Wall Street Journal said, although this discount does not include out-of-hospital use for patients who keep taking the drug after leaving the hospital.

This price decrease will still place the drug around £240 ($350) per tablet for hospitals but Turing is using the higher revenues from Daraprim to fund its own drug research-and-development programs according to The Wall Street Journal.

Turing said that it will be introducing a 30-count bottle to address the needs of hospitals and that after consulting with patient advocacy groups and infectious disease doctors, it understands that toxoplasmosis patients are primarily concerned with timely access and minimal out-of-pocket costs of Daraprim.  However, the company has said nothing about reducing the overall price of the drug to out-of-hospital patients.