Turing to lower price of Daraprim amid controversy

Turing Pharmaceuticals, the company that faced a backlash in the US after increasing the price of Daraprim by over 5000%, has said that the price of the drug will be lowered.

Turing raised the price of the drug from $13.50 per tablet to $750 per tablet. In the UK, Daraprim is available from GSK at a cost of US $20 (£13) for 30 tablets.

However, in an interview with ABC News yesterday, Martin Shkreli, CEO of Turing, said, “We’ve agreed to lower the price on Daraprim to a point that is more affordable and is able to allow the company to make a profit, but a very small profit.”

The Company has not confirmed what the new price will be.

Daraprim is the only FDA-approved treatment for toxoplasmosis, when used in combination with a sulfonamide and leucovorin. Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic infection which affects people with compromised immune systems.

The Company has said that it plans to use money made from Daraprim to improve on the current formulation of the drug and seek to develop new therapeutics for the treatment of toxoplasmosis.

In a separate interview with Bloomberg, Shkreli commented on his Company’s plans: “We are spending tens of millions of dollars to make a better version of Daraprim that is more effective, less toxic – Daraprim is very toxic – and these patients deserve a drug company that is turning a profit, a fair profit, and also developing a drug that is better for them. They don’t deserve a drug that is 70 years old. They deserve a modern medicine that can cure toxoplasmosis quickly.”