Mark Cuban Launches Cost Plus Drugs
Mark Cuban has officially launched his newest venture—the online pharmacy Cost Plus Drugs. The new online pharmacy backed by the Dallas Mavericks owner promises to make prescriptions more affordable. Cuban says Cost Plus Drugs will buy more than 100 medications directly from their manufacturers and then sell them at lower prices, cutting out the middleman.
Many of these are commonly prescribed generic medicines with prices just a few dollars lower than at the local pharmacy. But a handful are offered at savings of hundreds to thousands of dollars. Notable medications that epitomize the pharmacy’s savings include Imatinib, a life saving leukemia treatment that has a retail price of $9,657 per month but with MCCPDC costs $47 per month; Mesalamine, an ulcerative colitis treatment that retails at $940 per month costs $32.40 per month with MCCPDC; the gout treatment Colchicine retails at $182 month, the lowest price with a common voucher is $32 per month, and with MCCPDC it costs $8.70 per month.
As a registered pharmaceutical wholesaler, MCCPDC can bypass inflated markups. The pharmacy’s prices reflect actual manufacturer prices plus a flat 15% margin and pharmacist fee. Cost Plus Drugs does not accept insurance and asks customers to pay out of pocket. According to a September 2021 poll, 18 million Americans were recently unable to pay for at least one prescription medication for their household due to ever-rising costs. The pharmacy’s launch represents the first milestone in bringing affordable medications to millions.
Cuban’s involvement began when Texas radiologist Dr. Alex Oshymansky, who started a public benefit company to provide cheap pharmaceutical drugs, pitched the idea to Cuban while seeking more funding. The idea had already attracted $1 million in funding and Cuban said he was intrigued but encouraged Oshymansky to think bigger. Cuban said “Oshmyansky didn’t sell me. I sold him on doing more and thinking bigger.” Over the course of months, the two hammered out details of the venture.
Alex Oshmyansky, CEO of Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug said “We will do whatever it takes to get affordable pharmaceuticals to patients. The markup on potentially lifesaving drugs that people depend on is a problem that can’t be ignored. It is imperative that we take action and help expand access to these medications for those who need them most.”
