Australian teens recreate key ingredient in Pharma Bro drug for just $20

[kpete]

For $US20, a group of high school students has created 3.7 grams of an active ingredient used in the medicine Daraprim, which would sell in the United States for between $US35,000 and $US110,000.


In August 2015, the price of Daraprim in the US rose from $US13.50 per tablet to $US750 when Turing Pharmaceuticals, and its controversial then-chief executive Martin Shkreli, acquired the drug's exclusive rights and hiked up the price.

Since then, the 17-year-olds from Sydney Grammar have worked in their school laboratory to create the drug cheaply in order to draw attention to its inflated price overseas, which student Milan Leonard said was "ridiculous".

"It makes sense that if you're putting billions of dollars into research for a drug like this, you should be able to reap some profit, but to do something like this … it's just not just," he said.

Milan described the moment he realised he and his classmates had been successful.

"It was ecstatic, it was bliss, it was euphoric," he said.

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MORE:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-30/daraprim-nsw-students-create-drug-martin-shkreli-sold/8078892

[question everything]

1. Great work

Can Turin and others go after these teens for "patent infringement" or something?

[msongs]

2. so will they run scientific trials to prove their version of the drug actual works and is safe?

[Mariana]

3. It is not "their version of the drug".

It is the exact same molecule. What they made is identical to the active ingredient of the drug that used to be sold for $13.50 per pill, and is now being sold for $750 a pill.

[LanternWaste]

5. "Their version of the drug" is as "their version of the oxygen molecule."

"Their version of the drug" is as "their version of the oxygen molecule."

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Nice, BUT ...

From the article:

"While the drug is out of patent, Turing Pharmaceuticals controls its distribution and sale through a loophole called the 'closed distribution model'," said Associate Professor Todd.

"To take the drug to market as a generic, you need to compare it to Turing's product. If Turing won't allow the comparisons to take place, you'd need to fund a whole new trial," he said.

Here's a link to an article from the Wikipedia page: http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnlamattina/2015/09/21/heres-a-way-for-pharma-to-prevent-outrageous-generic-price-increases-and-help-its-reputation/#7bd4bf131872 Unfortunately, it doesn't explain how a company can maintain a claim to "medical rights" -- what the heck does that mean ? -- on a product whose patents expired decades ago. If there is a legal battle to be had, I suspect it is on this issue that one is most needed.



(a little more in my earlier post: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=8321151)