Earlier this week, billionaire investor Mark Cuban’s low-cost pharmaceutical company announced a partnership with EmsanaRX, allowing Cuban’s company to better compete with larger health companies.
Key Details
- Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company announced that it would partner with the pharmaceutical company to better access employer benefit programs.
- This new partnership will allow Cost Plus to compete with well-known brands like CVS, Rite Aid, and Wallgreens.
- Customers can now sign up for Cost Plus through EmsanaRX Plus—expanding Cost Plus’s employer-provided health system.
- Cost Plus says it can offer lower-cost medications by eliminating the middleman and maintaining a fixed 15% markup. The company offers over 100 generic medications.
Why it’s news
Cuban’s company launched last January with the goal of providing affordable medication. Cost Plus can reduce prices through several methods, including not processing insurance claims.
Cost Plus’s partnership and a previous announcement of an $11-million drug manufacturing facility in Texas indicate that Cuban’s plan to create alternatives to the current prescription drug market is moving along.
In a press release, Cuban says that Cost Plus and EmsanaRX are “working to disrupt the current pharmacy supply chain to eliminate the unnecessary markup and profiteering.”
Concerns about rising drug costs have been the focus of political discussions on both sides of the aisle. Many are watching to see if Cuban’s free market solution will have any effect on prices.
Customers can see the dramatic cost differences on Cost Plus’s website. Imatinib, a leukemia treatment, commonly sells for $2,502. With Cost Plus, it’s just $14.40 for 30 tablets.
Despite successfully offering much lower-cost generic drugs, some critics point out that Cuban’s company offers limited options. Others are opposed to Cost Plus only offering generic versions rather than name brand medications.