Octopus Overlords

Max Peck wrote:So, essentially Turing turns a profit by gouging everyone, since the insurance companies will just adjust their premiums as necessary to maintain their profit margins (assuming there is just a single source)?

Max Peck wrote: It sounds like Imprimis is out to do some good for everyone then. More profit to 'em.

hepcat wrote:Not criminal per se, but definitely morally repugnant.

What it found, in the case of Norway, was that U.S. prices were higher for 93% of 40 top branded drugs available in both countries in the third quarter. Similar patterns appeared when U.S. prices were compared with those in England and Canada’s Ontario province. Throughout the developed world, branded prescription drugs are generally cheaper than in the U.S.
More Reading

The upshot is Americans fund much of the global drug industry’s earnings, and its efforts to find new medicines. “The U.S. is responsible for the majority of profits for most large pharmaceutical companies,” said Richard Evans, a health-care analyst at SSR LLC and a former pricing official at drug maker Roche Holding AG .

Grifman wrote:Here's our real drug cost problem:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-u-s ... 1448939481

What it found, in the case of Norway, was that U.S. prices were higher for 93% of 40 top branded drugs available in both countries in the third quarter. Similar patterns appeared when U.S. prices were compared with those in England and Canada’s Ontario province. Throughout the developed world, branded prescription drugs are generally cheaper than in the U.S.
More Reading

The upshot is Americans fund much of the global drug industry’s earnings, and its efforts to find new medicines. “The U.S. is responsible for the majority of profits for most large pharmaceutical companies,” said Richard Evans, a health-care analyst at SSR LLC and a former pricing official at drug maker Roche Holding AG .

Since drugs are generally bought by govts in the rest of the world at regulated prices, the US basically funds drug research for the rest of the world.

malchior wrote:And we pay for it twice since the drug companies are often building on basic R&D paid for the Federal Government in the first place.

NYP wrote:This merger, which would create the world’s largest drug company, will move Pfizer-Allergan’s headquarters to Ireland, where it expects to enjoy a corporate tax rate of just 18 percent in the US, whereas Pfizer now pays an effective rate of 25 percent through existing off-shore revenue — already whittled down from the US’s corporate rate of 35 percent.

malchior wrote:And we pay for it twice since the drug companies are often building on basic R&D paid for the Federal Government in the first place.

NYP wrote:This merger, which would create the world’s largest drug company, will move Pfizer-Allergan’s headquarters to Ireland, where it expects to enjoy a corporate tax rate of just 18 percent in the US, whereas Pfizer now pays an effective rate of 25 percent through existing off-shore revenue — already whittled down from the US’s corporate rate of 35 percent.

LawBeefaroni wrote:That's one way to put it. The other is that the US basically funds drug company profits.

The upshot is Americans fund much of the global drug industry’s earnings, and its efforts to find new medicines.

Grifman wrote:

LawBeefaroni wrote:That's one way to put it. The other is that the US basically funds drug company profits.

'

Uh, that's exactly what the link I quoted from says:

The upshot is Americans fund much of the global drug industry’s earnings, and its efforts to find new medicines.

Since drugs are generally bought by govts in the rest of the world at regulated prices, the US basically funds drug research for the rest of the world.

Grifman wrote:Here's our real drug cost problem:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-u-s ... 1448939481

What it found, in the case of Norway, was that U.S. prices were higher for 93% of 40 top branded drugs available in both countries in the third quarter. Similar patterns appeared when U.S. prices were compared with those in England and Canada’s Ontario province. Throughout the developed world, branded prescription drugs are generally cheaper than in the U.S.
More Reading

The upshot is Americans fund much of the global drug industry’s earnings, and its efforts to find new medicines. “The U.S. is responsible for the majority of profits for most large pharmaceutical companies,” said Richard Evans, a health-care analyst at SSR LLC and a former pricing official at drug maker Roche Holding AG .

Since drugs are generally bought by govts in the rest of the world at regulated prices, the US basically funds drug research for the rest of the world.

hitbyambulance wrote:just to rub everyone's faces in it:

Pharma CEO Who Hiked Price of AIDS Drug by 5,000% Spent Millions Buying the Only Copy of New Wu-Tang LP

GreenGoo wrote:

hitbyambulance wrote:just to rub everyone's faces in it:

Pharma CEO Who Hiked Price of AIDS Drug by 5,000% Spent Millions Buying the Only Copy of New Wu-Tang LP

Shrug. Outside of his business dealings (which I do have a problem with) I don't care how he spends his money. He could burn it and snort it up his nose for all I care.

Max Peck wrote:

GreenGoo wrote:

hitbyambulance wrote:just to rub everyone's faces in it:

Pharma CEO Who Hiked Price of AIDS Drug by 5,000% Spent Millions Buying the Only Copy of New Wu-Tang LP

Shrug. Outside of his business dealings (which I do have a problem with) I don't care how he spends his money. He could burn it and snort it up his nose for all I care.

So, you don't care that the cocky little sociopath spent about $2,000,000 (which translates to a measly 2,667 pills of his drug) on this one-of-many vanity items? Cool, thanks for sharing.

Would you care more if you knew that he laughed at some bad Jewish Grinch jokes while listening to it?

P.S. Noting when people care enough to comment that they don't care about something is one of my (many) hobbies.

Shkreli, who describes himself as a bit of a recluse, recalls Gilkes telling him that if he bought the record, he would have the opportunity to rub shoulders with celebrities and rappers who would want to hear it. “Then I really became convinced that I should be the buyer,” Shkreli says.

...
Shkreli told Bloomberg, “I could be convinced to listen to it earlier if Taylor Swift wants to hear it or something like that. But for now, I think I’m going to kind of save it for a rainy day.”

Max Peck wrote:

GreenGoo wrote:

hitbyambulance wrote:just to rub everyone's faces in it:

Pharma CEO Who Hiked Price of AIDS Drug by 5,000% Spent Millions Buying the Only Copy of New Wu-Tang LP

Shrug. Outside of his business dealings (which I do have a problem with) I don't care how he spends his money. He could burn it and snort it up his nose for all I care.

So, you don't care that the cocky little sociopath spent about $2,000,000 (which translates to a measly 2,667 pills of his drug) on this one-of-many vanity items? Cool, thanks for sharing.

Would you care more if you knew that he laughed at some bad Jewish Grinch jokes while listening to it?

P.S. Noting when people care enough to comment that they don't care about something is one of my (many) hobbies.

[T]he pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli has found a new project: making an essential treatment unaffordable for poor immigrants from Latin America.
...
He’s now the CEO of KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, which recently announced its plans to submit benznidazole, a treatment for Chagas disease purchased earlier this month, for Food and Drug Administration approval next year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 300,000 people in the United States have the deadly disease. Most of them are immigrants from Latin America, where as many as 8 million people are infected.

The third most common parasite disease in the world, Chagas, also known as the “kissing bug disease,” is transmitted via the painless bites of Triatomine insects. Untreated, it can lead to heart failure and death. Last year, researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine identified Chagas in several patients who hadn’t traveled outside of the country, positing that they may have come into contact with the bugs through camping and hunting. That said, the risk of contracting the parasite in the U.S. remains small; most people who have the disease in the United States already had it when they arrived.

Right now, doctors in the U.S. obtain benznidazole free of charge through the CDC. According to Rachel Cohen, the regional executive director of the Drugs for Neglected Disease Initiative in North America, the drug sells in Latin America for somewhere between $60 and $100 for each course of treatment. Both of these would change the moment the FDA approved benznidazole from any company—and Shkreli, in particular, seems determined to price this drug out of reach of the people who need it. In filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, KaloBios wrote that it expects to price the Chagas drug similarly to antivirals for Hepatitis C, which can cost almost $100,000 for a single course of treatment in the United States.

LordMortis wrote:That sounds like the stuff fictional TV detective show assassination of villains that put away a desperate working class father are made of.

Defiant wrote:Shkreli, CEO Reviled for Drug Price Gouging, Arrested on Securities Fraud Charges

LawBeefaroni wrote:

Defiant wrote:Shkreli, CEO Reviled for Drug Price Gouging, Arrested on Securities Fraud Charges

Good news, but it shows how slow to act the SEC is. Some of this has been obvious since 2012 but they are only moving on it now that he is so reviled. That's 3+ years of raking in millions.

El Guapo wrote:

LawBeefaroni wrote:

Defiant wrote:Shkreli, CEO Reviled for Drug Price Gouging, Arrested on Securities Fraud Charges

Good news, but it shows how slow to act the SEC is. Some of this has been obvious since 2012 but they are only moving on it now that he is so reviled. That's 3+ years of raking in millions.

That's not really accurate. If you look at the timeline, Shkreli was only fired from the company he's accused of defrauding (Retrophin) in 2014, which tells you a lot about when the relevant alleged misconduct came to light - it's not like they found out about the alleged fraud in 2012 but decided to keep him around for two years out of the kindness of their hearts. And Retrophin only sued him as of a few months ago, and they're the ones with actual money at stake here.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which according to court documents opened an investigation into Shkreli in 2012, is expected to file a parallel civil complaint against him, according to people familiar with the matter.

LawBeefaroni wrote:

El Guapo wrote:

LawBeefaroni wrote:

Defiant wrote:Shkreli, CEO Reviled for Drug Price Gouging, Arrested on Securities Fraud Charges

Good news, but it shows how slow to act the SEC is. Some of this has been obvious since 2012 but they are only moving on it now that he is so reviled. That's 3+ years of raking in millions.

That's not really accurate. If you look at the timeline, Shkreli was only fired from the company he's accused of defrauding (Retrophin) in 2014, which tells you a lot about when the relevant alleged misconduct came to light - it's not like they found out about the alleged fraud in 2012 but decided to keep him around for two years out of the kindness of their hearts. And Retrophin only sued him as of a few months ago, and they're the ones with actual money at stake here.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which according to court documents opened an investigation into Shkreli in 2012, is expected to file a parallel civil complaint against him, according to people familiar with the matter.

I was going on that, he was on their radar at least as early as 2012. One of the trades in the Reterophin complaint dates back to 2011. And he started his career shorting stocks he bashed in chat rooms. He's like the reverse Jonathan Lebed. But nothing until now?

I know they have to be cautious, but it always seems like the SEC waits for news and public opinion to back punitive actions rather than trying to root out and prevent fraud earlier.

About 2009: Founds MSMB Capital Management, which later suffers losses on a bad trade with Merrill Lynch.

EDIT: Oh, and on the Retrophin firing, he was the founder, CEO, and largest share holder. I takes a lot to fire that guy. I don't put much stake in the timing of his firing, except that it must have been pretty bad by that point to be able to oust him.

LordMortis wrote:So he paid two million for the right rights to a $100 drug that millions of people use so he can charge $100,000 for it? That sounds like the stuff fictional TV detective show assassination of villains that put away a desperate working class father are made of.

It also sounds like me trying really hard not not to R&P this with talk of single payer systems and the ACA and failing.

This should be a central topic of every congressional and presidential discussion.

At least two separate Congressional probes have been launched since September on the pricing issues of Daraprim, which had long been available as a generic drug used to treat toxoplasmosis in AIDS patients. Turing is under investigation by the New York state attorney general for antitrust concerns.

At a Senate hearing on drug pricing last week, a doctor who treats babies with life-threatening toxoplasmosis testified that a course of treatment with Daraprim went from about $1,200 to no less than $69,000.

El Guapo wrote:

About 2009: Founds MSMB Capital Management, which later suffers losses on a bad trade with Merrill Lynch.

El Guapo wrote: He's a busy boy. But not every issue turns into a case. On top of that, you have to factor in that building a complex securities case that will hold up, especially when you are dealing with high priced defense attorneys, is something that takes a year, minimum.

El Guapo wrote: More to the point, to think that the SEC and other federal authorities have been sitting on the case for three years would require believing that the company that he allegedly defrauded sat on this for two years.

EDIT: Oh, and on the Retrophin firing, he was the founder, CEO, and largest share holder. I takes a lot to fire that guy. I don't put much stake in the timing of his firing, except that it must have been pretty bad by that point to be able to oust him.

LawBeefaroni wrote:
Bottom line, this guy has been able to continue along with no resistance for years and is so emboldened that he's tweeting LOLs about pricing people out of life saving drugs. He started his career doing reverse pump and dumps what, more than 10 years ago, and has moved on to owning drug companies and price gouging. Yes, he's a shitbag but there's also a problem with the regulatory system.