Mark Cuban's 'life changing' online pharmacy adds 87 new drugs, what are they?

Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. shared the news in a tweet on June 2, 2022. They have added 87 new medicines to their already 'life changing' online drug store. Among those on the list are sildenafil and tadalafil, the generic forms of the popular erectile dysfunction drugs Viagra and Cialis.

The online pharmacy offered about 250 medications in late April, and now offers more than 700 (as of early June). "We are continuously working to add new drugs as quickly as possible," they shared in a Tweet.

The company has continued to expand and, in doing so, has created rapport and trust from its suppliers. This means Cuban's venture gets better prices from its suppliers as time goes on and has even launched 'Price Drop Fridays' where every Friday various medicines' prices are slashed.

Billionaire investor Mark Cuban launched an online pharmacy that offers more than 100 generic drugs at an affordable price. In a letter posted on his website, he said, "We started this company as an effort to disrupt the drug industry and to do our best to end ridiculous drug prices."

Mark Cuban is an American billionaire entrepreneur, television personality, and media proprietor, who is also the owner of film distributor Magnolia Pictures.

Cuban has been a regular on ABC´s program 'Shark Tank' since 2011, the American business reality television series. He has recently been in the press for giving a 19 year old girl $400,00 dollars for her beauty start-up.

"Everyone should have safe, affordable medicines with transparent prices.” A quote from the website itself: costplusdrugs.com. The site promotes the tagline, "No middlemen. No price games. Huge drug savings."

$4.5 billion. That’s how much Forbes estimates Cuban, the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, is worth. But he is still only the third richest man in Dallas.

Cuban purchased a majority stake in the NBA's Dallas Mavericks for $285 million in 2000. The games have become an entertainment spectacle since then. He also made headlines by purchasing an entire town in Texas.

According to Wikipedia, Cuban has been fined by the NBA for 13 incidents. Mostly for critical statements about the league and referees, with fines in the region of at least $1.665 million.

In order to help families of U.S. military personnel who were injured or killed in the Iraq war, Cuban started the Fallen Patriot Fund personally matching the first $1 million in contributions with funds from his own Foundation.

Cuban has been a regular on ABC´s program 'Shark Tank.' A show not too dissimilar to 'The Apprentice.' He started out his entrepreneurial career at just aged 12 when he sold garbage bags door-to-door. He then started his online 'Cost Plus Drug Company.'

The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company removes the middlemen and negotiates directly with the manufacturers and pharmacies for discounts on behalf of employers, health insurers and government health programs.

Photo by Julia Koblitz on Unsplash

An article in Forbes magazine states that the company’s origins go back to 2018 when Dr. Alex Oshmyansky founded Osh Affordable Pharmaceuticals. Cuban financially backed Oshmyansky’s efforts, and has now renamed the company.

Let's look at an example: The leukaemia drug imatinib is priced at $47 a month on MCCPDC, compared to the $9,657 retail price.

Photo: costplusdrugs.com

As stated on his website, the drug prescribed for hookworm, Albendazole, can cost as much as $500 per course. Their cost for Albendazole is $26.08 per course. They then mark that price up by 15% so they can 'continue to run the company and invest in disrupting the pricing of as many drugs as we possibly can.'

That makes the base price of the drug $30; to which they add $3 - the price the pharmacy charges for preparing and providing. Et voila! $33, instead of $500.

Photo by National Cancer Institute/Unsplash

The markup on generics average is “at least” 100%, the MCCPDC said, whereas the Wall Street Journal reports that in some cases it can exceed 1,000%.

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

The company doesn’t process insurance claims and requires customers to pay for their medications themselves, stating that its drugs cost less than most insurance plans’ deductible and copay requirements.

Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash

Cuban could take no more when so-called “Pharma Bro” Martin Shrkeli raised the price of Daraprim 5,000%—from $13.50 to $750 per tablet. A drug used to treat a severe parasitic infection. “I was just so livid about that,” Cuban is quoted as saying to Forbes
“I've been angry about it for a long time.”

According to a RAND Corporation report, prescription drug prices in the United States are significantly higher than in other nations, with prices in the U.S averaging 2.56 times those seen in 32 other nations.

The study also found that among G7 nations, Canada, Germany, and Japan tend to have higher prices. The United Kingdom, France, and Italy generally have the lowest prescription drug prices.