Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wears a shirt honoring former player Dirk Nowitzki during a ceremony honoring Nowitzki’s career on January 5, 2022 in Dallas.
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Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wears a shirt honoring former player Dirk Nowitzki during a ceremony honoring Nowitzki’s career on January 5, 2022 in Dallas.
Tom Pennington / Getty Images
Billionaire investor and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban, has launched an online pharmacy for generic drugs, promising huge discounts compared to brick-and-mortar distributors.
Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company announced the opening of its online pharmacy Wednesday. The pharmacy says it will bypass the “middlemen” in the healthcare industry and help consumers avoid high drug prices by charging the manufacturer’s price plus a 15% flat rate and pharmacist’s fee.
“All medicines are original price plus 15%! Sign up and share your thoughts and experiences with us!” Cuba tweeted last week.
The launch took place a few weeks after the company was founded pharmaceutical benefit management. PBMs are companies that work directly with health insurers, drug manufacturers, and pharmacies to manage drug benefits and have a major impact on prescription drug prices.
Sky-high drug costs have long been a problem in the US A Gallup poll released in September found that 18 million Americans reported not being able to afford at least one medication prescribed by a doctor in the previous three months. President Biden said in December that the United States had to do something about “excessively expensive” prescription drugs.
The Cuban pharmacy said it would negotiate drug prices directly with manufacturers to lower prices for consumers. The pharmacy does not accept health insurance, but says the price will still be lower than what people normally pay at the pharmacy.
Alex Oshmyansky, CEO of Cuba’s online pharmacy, said in a statement: “The labeling of potentially life-saving drugs on which people depend is an issue that cannot be ignored. “It’s imperative that we take action and help expand access to these drugs for those who need them most.”
The site currently offers 100 generic drugs to treat a variety of conditions, including diabetes, asthma and heart conditions.
One diabetes drug, metformin, sells for $3.90 for a 30-day supply, compared with a retail price of $20, the pharmacy said. 30 tablets of imatinib, used to treat leukemia and other cancers, cost $17.10 at the Cuban pharmacy compared with $2502.60 at other pharmacies.
A version of this story originally appeared in Morning Edition’s live blog.
