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CEO of a small pharmaceutical company defended the price of an essential antibiotic of more than 400% and Financial Times that he thinks that "it is a moral requirement to make money when you can".
Nirmal Mulye, CEO of the small Missouri-based pharmaceutical company Nostrum Laboratories, raised the price of the nitrofurantoin bottle from $ 474.75 to $ 2,392 last month. The drug is a decades old antibiotic used to treat urinary tract infections caused by Escherichia coli and some other Gram-negative bacteria. The World Health Organization lists nitrofurantoin as an essential medicine.
In an interview with the FTMr. Mulye went on to say that it was also a "moral requirement" to "sell the product at the highest price" and he explained that he was in "this business to gain money." ;money".
In this perspective, Mulye took a moment to defend Martin Shkreli, who gained notoriety by buying exclusive rights over another decades-old drug and raised his prices by more than 5,000% almost overnight. (Shkreli was sentenced to seven years in prison in March for unrelated fraud charges.)
Mulye explained:
I agree with Martin Shkreli that when he increased the price of his drug, he was in his rights because he had to reward his shareholders … if he is the only one to sell it, it can earn as much money as it can … We have to earn money when we can. The price of iPhones is increasing, the price of cars is increasing, hotel rooms are very expensive.
Mulye also noted that the rival pharmaceutical company Casper Pharma had increased the price of its branded version of nitrofurantoin, called Furadantin. Casper has increased its price by 182% in three years, between 2015 and 2018, bringing the list price to $ 2,800.
The Nostrum version is "always an economy, no matter if it's important or not," Mulye said.
Finally, Mulye attacked the Food and Drug Administration, calling charges that drug manufacturers pay the regulator "robbery" and claiming that the agency was "incompetent and corrupt".
In a tweeted answerFDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb responded to Mulye's "moral condition" claim by writing:
[T]There is no moral imperative to take into account and benefit patients. The FDA will continue to promote competition so that speculators and those who do not care about public health consequences can not benefit patients who need medication.
Gottlieb and Mulye have both noted that Nostrum's antibiotic has been removed from the market – just like rivals such as Furadantin – to meet the new FDA-imposed impurity regulations. Nostrum has not yet started buying the drug, and Mulye warned that the price could change again "depending on market conditions".
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