How Billionaire Mark Cuban's Online Pharmacy Went From Pitch To Reality | Forbes
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- Опубліковано 31 січ 2022
- Billionaire investor Mark Cuban launched an online pharmacy that offers more than 100 generic drugs at an affordable price with a goal of being “radically transparent” in its price negotiations with drug companies. The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Company (MCCPDC) is a registered pharmaceutical wholesaler and purchases drugs directly from manufacturers, bypassing middlemen to lower the price of more than 100 medications, it said in a statement. For example, the leukemia drug imatinib is priced at $47 a month on MCCPDC compared to the $9,657 retail price.
The online pharmacy’s prices for generics factor in a 15% margin on top of actual manufacturer prices and a $3 pharmacist fee, the statement said. The markup on generics average “at least” 100%, the MCCPDC said, while the Wall Street Journal reports in some cases it exceeds 1,000%.
The company doesn’t process insurance claims and requires customers to pay for their medications out of pocket, noting its drugs cost less than most insurance plans’ deductible and copay requirements. Customers have to request a new prescription from their provider to place an order for medications on the MCCPDC website.
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My son just got his first prescription from here today. Instead of having to pay $400, we paid $14. Thank you Mr Cuban.
The fact you have to pay anything at all is disappointing in the U.K. regardless of item it’s £9.35 and you can even get it free if you’re on a low income or a student
@@Kaiyats Somebody is paying for it. Nothing is free.
@@aljay2955 Not really it’s just the drugs are socialised instead of capitalised
@@Kaiyats not really? so drug manufactures get zero pounds for them. You are as naive as I do not know who. Of course that 9,39 is paid by all people through taxes.
Also - the OP did not state that his son was a student or low income person.
@@basedpatriotLT Yes obviously it’s funded through taxes, it wouldn’t run without money for drug manufacturers
This is a perfect example of a business being a force of good.
We can see that it can go both ways.
One good doesn’t correct one thousand wrongs
And still profitable.
@@ferddoesweirdthingsinlife1040 Correct. Not to mention, governments in Western Europe and many parts of Asia have already been doing this for decades.
Too bad he was part owner of an NFT scam that got shut down on instagram.
Omg I am so grateful to Mark Cuban for doing this for us seniors. I needed a drug that was not covered by insurance my pharmacy wanted 308.00 for a one month supply , I’m getting them from direct for 41.47 for a 3 month supply. I’m so grateful.😀
😊
Pretty sad that someone without a healthcare background or any skin in the game can provide more coverage/protected healthcare dollars for patients than the Billion dollar healthcare industry. This should be embarrassing to health insurers like Humana, Anthem, Cigna, United Healthcare, Aetna/CVS/Caremark, Express Scripts and all the other crooks in the healthcare business..Thank you Mr. Mark Cuban
lmao it all about money. similarly the gov can do this but they dont
I know drug companies do make lot of profit but a big chunk goes for rnd of new drugs if profit reduces then it effects research budget
@@adityagmehta That's not true. The rnd is already in the price of the generic drug from the manufacture, where Cuban is buying directly from. That's the price they are selling it to other pharmacies as well. They don't make less selling to this company. The price is way lower because the multiple middle men and their greed is left out of the deal this time.
@@travisledo nope generic drug means expired patient
@@adityagmehta patent. You are right though.
This is revolutionary and can make a huge impact to patient care!
In the US maybe, most countries already have this
@@uioplkhj I'm starting to suspect isnt as great as they say they are
@@uioplkhj Obviously this is in the US. Why on earth would any other country be relevant in this discussion ? Is Mark Cuban an American ? Yes. Is Forbes American ? Yes. Is their content about America? Yes. Is this About the American Pharma prices ? Yes.
@@deico4204 he was just throwing shade.
Simps gonna simp 🤷♂️
I hope everyone decides to head on over to this company for their prescriptions because that’s going to create competition and that’s good for the consumer. Total respect for Mark Cuban.
ok i'll hop right on over
What's the name of it?
@@ImranAhmed-rd3zm Cost Plus
If ever I need prescriptions I will be
You could just eat healthy and exercise
Long overdue IMO. Internet has eliminated the need of multiple middlemen for so many products, I'm surprised it hasn't done the same for pharmaceuticals. Nonetheless, Mark Cuban did a splendid job.
Being from India, I was shocked to see some medicines literally having "made in India" tag on it. In India, most medicines cost less than 1$ on retail. Manufacturing costs should be less than .10c in India.
The drug companies that do a lot of the research are in the USA, so we pay ridiculous prices for those same drugs, and the prices go to the companies that spend tons of money on research. However, the USA system has gotten out of hand, and they charge 3x as much as they should, and the system needs a reset.
@@davidanalyst671 True. The system has allowed US pharma companies to be the leaders in research and development of new drugs but, it’s getting too much now. Things like insulin shouldn’t cost that much, plus if you see the improvements in insulin have been marginal even though they have been making profits to invest in research for years
@Carpe Diem So many indians want to come to the US because US has the highest salaries and compensation for skilled workers in the world. You'll make atleast 4 times what you make in India in the US, sure the expenses go up but you can save more money in the US if you spend wisely.
@Carpe Diem gau Mata, your mother and we westerners like beef ,you beef God is so weak.
Indian medicines do not follow proper standards and quality control and aid d zero dollars on research ..unfortunately because of lack of standard and proper guidelines third world country like India can not be trusted..there is a program on pbs where they lab tested lot of these generic medicines form India and they were worse compared to other tainted drugs from other patta of the world ..I am not saying all are bad but that is the ground reality unfortunately...
I really love Cuban as a businessman and as a person... He's genuinely a good person, if you search some of his investments you can tell how those companies he invested in have big impact on people... Hands down a billionaire with a heart
Utmost respect to MB after he invested in a Xmas tree seller who would only hire veterans. Mark knew he wasn't going to make money, but he still invested to help the guy(s)
He's genuinely not a good person. He was part of an NFT scam promotion 😂
@@user-be1jx7ty7n oh. He knew. He's not an idiot
@@user-be1jx7ty7n he knew 😂 he owned the company that was doing the scams.
@@tj2835 Nah, you shouldn't assume things automatically so much dude. Stop being jealous of other people's success
I literally lived more than half my life hating the Big Pharma. Mark Cuban, you are my hero.
Now this is real progress against insane healthcare/Rx costs. Kudos Mr. Cuban!
Thank you to Dr. Oshmyansky and Mark Cuban. Working in healthcare, I see the impact on patients every day.
This model already existed in Mexico, referred to as "Farmacias Similares", along with many competitors. They are all over the country. It is extremely easy to buy generic drugs at a extreme cheap price. Besides, next to each drug store, there is medical doctor office of the same drugstore, that provides medical consultation for general symptoms and milder diseases, pregnant planfication, shots, and so, at a cost of $2 dollar per session. This saves you a lot of time, as you do not need appoinment.
They need to fix the real drug problem in Mexico.
@@fabbz94 I’ll stop when your people stop buying
This is amazing!
@@fabbz94 Maybe people like you stop buying. Have you ever thought that might the problem?
@@fabbz94 Mexico’s drug problem wouldn’t be a thing if there were no buyers to the north.
Now this i can get behind. Drug prices have been going nuts for years now ever since those big pharma idiots started charging 10x - 20x the price of older medications. Go for it Mark!
after my heart attack and stent placement, I needed Plavix for 6 months. I couldn't afford it ( before the ACA ) so I only got 45 days worth, what the doctor gave me in samples for free. It was around $50 a month back in 2008, and now to find out it actually costs around $5. This is why poor people die, too much profits in Health Care and not enough actual caring.
Wow
My dad suffers from epilepsy and his meds are already expensive for us here in India, (but we don't buy them because one of my uncles is like a head of a pharma company) I can't even imagine how expensive they would be in the US
Is that even legal?
@@nekoeye5284 I mean he's just buying them for us technically so yeah it's legal lol
I worked for a pharmacy that marked up a cancer pill 60,000% . It was crazy to me.
The US is so weird. Selling medicine with normal prices gets you elevated to the rank of SAINT!
focus on your own country chief
@@ThatGuy68580 Shut up. In my country, the medicine costs pennies.
@@ThatGuy68580 you getting upset for some reason?
@@brandonborgerding182 yeah Brandon I am
@@ThatGuy68580 what have the oligarchs told you to be mad at this time? are you still on immigrants or have you moved on to something new?
I use to work at a pharmacy and when they ask you "do you have a healthcare plan" and you say yes, you automatically get the most expensive products sold to you and if you say no, they usually give you the generic that works the same and is A LOT more affordable.
thats not true lol
@@HeyYoFabels Do you have any pharmaceutical experience? I know a lot of people in the Pharma business and works the same everywhere.
@@Gamewith_Albertho do you even know what a daw1 or daw2 are?
thought so...
@@HeyYoFabels Lol I just don't feel like arguing with a random person on the internet about something I know 100% about and they know 0% about. Good luck with your life.
My friends and family that are in the Healthcare field have 5-6 homes each and more money than they know what to do with. I see the corruption and gouging first hand and it's disgusting.
Thank you Mark Cuban. We need more people to step up like he did and take action.
This is a good example of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in action. Mr. Cuban has reached the highest Altruistic rung of the ladder, and has built a business model that makes good money, but he can easily fight the temptation to make crazy money, because he's already rich. Well done, Sir. Well done.
Who says Capitalism has to be evil? Let us raise a glass to Conscious Capitalism! 🥂 More of this please. 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
you know thats the title of a book right? lolz. Im more of a Thomas sowell fan myself...
@@davidanalyst671 I honestly had no clue; will definitely check it out 👍🏾 Thanks!
Wall Street investors
Thank you for tackling this issue Mark. Amazing how much markup is involved for medicines people rely on to live!
Mark is a real humanitarian , what can be better than helping people with a whole lot of health issues get their medicines at a reasonable price ?
Mark Cuban is a Saint whose changing as many lives as he can while also making good money. That's the goal
I love to see how the industry moves toward customer convenience
and away from politicians
Hopefully politicians one day may move away from business interests and industry lobbyists
This is awesome. I hope the giant insurance companies don't try to unalive him.
He solved a problem the US government couldn’t solve in decades. Period end of story.
True. It is a problem people in power kept for decades and more likely be kept for decades more.
Preach!
More of a wouldn’t not couldn’t.
To be honest, he has just removed the middle man. These drugs don't cost more than a dollar in other countries. So in that sense he is still gonna make a huge profit its just that instead of 10 people taking a cut 1 person is going to take it.
He solved a problem which the pharmaceuticals didn't want to be solved
Nice. Always loved Mark. Nuce to see him taking on this industry that hasn't had the wake up call to rid themselves of these soon-to-be extinct practices.
I wrote in the comments, that mark putting money and time into this company very likely means hes losing A LOT of friends in washington DC. I doubt he will run for any office because hes made so many enemies with this. There are entire industries that pay thousands of employees salaries hundreds of politicians just to skim a little money off the drug companies, and these worthless companies are giving money to politicians who are ready to publicly say bad things about mark and this company if they make 1 tiny little mistake.
@@davidanalyst671 fortunately for us, we know pharma and DC are not reliable sources of news on matters like these, and we'll continue to ignore them, just like we ignore the ads big pharma pushes on social media about how "government price regulation of meds is a bad thing" lmao
As a European this feels so out of place…
It’s common practice that insurance companies pay for drugs, so of course there’s a big power to get them as cheap as possible.
I guess it’s a good thing that a company sells them with the least possible mock-up.. but still this one got me feeling weird…
every time i hear anything related to health care in USA, its so crazy expensive. i'm glad he realized a massive problem and worked on the betterment for the people instead of capitalizing on it like money hungry people would. i respect him so much.
he did capitalize on it, you dont think he knows what hes doing lol? now everyone is going to flock to him where he will slowly raise the prices like the people originally did in the first place
AS HE CAPITALIZES OFF IT IN A MONEY HUNGRY WAY. darrrrrr
the problems aremiddle men and insurance companies taking a cut. once the us gov insured student loans, look what happened to tuition prices. direct to consumer is the way to go.
Mark Cuban is a hero. Look at how he tried to help delante west when most people wouldn't.
He only does things that benefit him/his image. When in reality he was part owner of an NFT scam to the point that instagram shut down an NFT account linked to him.
@@Alex632 how exactly does helping delante west and providing cheap prescription drugs benefit him? Do your research he was an investor. Mark Cuban didn't scam anyone. Investors cant control everything what the company does. If you are going to accuse him of being selfish you should provide proof.
@@kevinparker2314 you're telling me Mark didn't know that the business model was collecting money from promotions? And didn't once look into the page and see that they wasn't declaring that every post they made was an ad?
@@Alex632 he is a billionaire that invests in many companies. Things like this happen to investors all the time. Do you have any idea how many projects hes involved in? Investors don't control companies.
@@kevinparker2314 why do ppl like u you keep worshipping the oligarchs, celebrities, and political class hoping they’ll save the day?
Finally! Someone realized the problem! Thanks Mark !
Thanks, Mr Cuban! I don’t need your services (yet), but I know plenty of people who do. What an amazing story to hear in this corrupt, aggressive capitalist system.
Before this new venture, I already have been a fan of him. Kudos to my idol who makes a good change for many people!
That's good. I have no problem with someone making money from actually helping people.
I will always love Mark Cuban for being bold enough to invest in this pharmacy!! 🙏🏼 I know it’s helping many ppl save money & their lives. And same for the doctor that sent a cold email. And best of luck on the new manufacturing plant! 💊💉💖
Thanks for all the detailed information you have provided in this video. I like your way of explaining every point. Keep sharing such great videos in the future also.
It's nice to see a private citizen doing what the bought-and-paid-for federal government has refused to do for the past several decades.
Brilliant. Very much needed. I’m retired and live in Thailand and prescription drugs here are probably even cheaper than Mark Cuban price. Thailand manufactures most of the generic drugs in availability is very good everywhere.
USA: wow this is revolutionary
REST OF THE WORLD: hold your horses...we've been doing this for decades
Disruption in its clearest form ... And so simple. Well done!!!
Oh god, I hope they take these companies public someday.
Not to the stock exchange, but like a crowd-fund platform or similar.
I'd love to invest in something like this - something that can make life better or easier for people.
I'm from Sweden and I have the privilege not to have to worry about things like this and I'm extremely grateful for that.
taking things public is the very reason for price hikes
Wow! Such an inspiring story, hope more good and similar productions come from this.
This is one of the cases as to why competition is good.
He's accomplished more than our legislators with their lobbyists always first. Thank you Mr. Cuban
Shocking to know the high high price markup on medicines in US!!!
Hi Mr. Cuban. I wish this is something that we can do in the Philippines. The cost of medicines and healthcare in our country is astronomical. Even for those who can afford, are still finding it hard to sustain their maintenance. Our senior citizens are really suffering. Philippines is a population of 100 million. Despite the low price of your medications, it will still make sense to do business here due to our growing population. Please help us. The pharmacy business in our country is ruled by few bbig businessmen.
There is TFC here but people don't trust medicines outside their brands. TFC costs more than 50% lower than branded drugs.
The same drugs cost less than a dollar in Asia, it's super cheap here because government step in and pharmacies can't raise prices as they wish. Also Insurance isn't prevalent here as in USA
One of the better things he's done, to be commended ! Well done to him and the Dr
Trust me, he's not doing it for you, me, or the betterment of society. I can guarantee you that.
Love what you're doing Mark Cuban keep up the good work
Nice to see not all rich people are evil, props to Cuban
My mom uses Montelukas and it’s always a struggle. Thanks Mark!
This is fantastic, I’m sharing with friends that might need this
Cuban literally be some a Shark Tank contestant himself without needing the money. Glad that he’s in it to benefit people.
Good on all involved to make this work.
Mark Cuban is my favorite billionaire. Not only does hie do stuff like this, but in Sharks Tank he is always so respectful to people coming in with pitches.
This business will directly impact the lives of hundred millions of people. Great.
Yes! Shoutout to everyone involved in this project!
It’s about time someone did something about the drug prices in this Country!! Thanks Mark Cuban!!
Very interesting video! Thanks for sharing.
If I became a billionaire this is how I could and would conduct my business meanwhile still making millions and making a huge impact in millions of lives
"Adversarial Interoperability" meets healthcare. Bravo, Cuban!
Nice, hopefully he becomes richer he deserves it
This is too awesome.
Cuban thank you for setting example
Mr Cuban is a blessing to many folks for making this happen.
Amazon already does this. Moved my prescriptions there and my costs went from $75 per month to $23. The Amazon price was far better than Goodrx for my scripts
I don't get how others haven't done this earlier. Everywhere in the world you always have a cheaper generic alternative to the branded drug. America is so messed up 🇺🇸🤣
Thanks. Mark. For all you do find us a cure for cancer thank you.
This is revolutionary. This should continue
As far as I know, most of the problem with pharmacy prices in the US is related to patent law, which says that new drugs must be "as least as good" in order to get a new patent. So pharmaceutical companies just add or remove an extra ingredient that doesn't affect anything once every 5-10 years and get a new patent, which allows them effectively to monopolize the drug.
My cancer drug Imatinib was $235.00 month now $ 50.00 dollars Thanks Mark!!
I can see most medicines have Made in India tag on them. I came to know Indian pharma companies lead the market and prices are very low in India even below half a dollar. The same medicines are above 10 dollars here in the US. This is shocking.
Mark Cuban deserves applause 👏 good Samaritan stuff... crazy price difference
This is the stuff richer folks *should* be doing. I have immense respect for Mark Cuban for doing this, because not only is it entreprenurial and industry-changing, it's also a force for real good in the US.
In Sweden we cap out medicin cost at $240/ year. Losartan is about 6$ for a month supply. An income of 100k$/ year gives about 38% in income tax incl. medical "insurance" . After living in the US for 8 years and now back in Sweden I truly don't understand how the US Medical market is screwing the patients when it comes to costs. It's tragic.
The problem with this is that generic brands sometime does not work. Sometimes you have to use name brands. I've always liked Mark. He seems to be a good person.
Mr Cuban for president. It's amazing that no one had balls to confront pharmaceutical greed and ego.
This is awesome! 🌼♥️
Mark Cuban earned every penny he has. Most importantly, Mark always makes things work. Look at the Mavs. And everything else Mark has touched. Mark Cuban is a honest man who cares about others. Cuban for President. 👍🗳🇺🇸
An amazing and philanthropic endeavor from Mark Cuban to invest in this idea, but I don't see enough people crediting the physician that actually thought up and emailed his idea to Cuban for support, and further leading the company (as CEO) to mainstream success.
So, thank you to both Mr. Cuban AND Dr. Oshmyansky for making low-cost drugs accessible to everyone (and pushing for more supply-chain transparency from the Pharma industry).
The online pharmacy where Cuban owns a 16% share of the company, Blue Agenda Marketing, has been online since the mid-1990s. When it first launched in 2005, Cuban was the only company in the world to offer online pharmsicker medicine.
And he's taken some unprecedented action to redefine a pharma business, going from promoting it as a necessity to a way to make a living.
In 2013, Cuba relaunched the drug for sickened people and founder Flavio Nunez sells over one million prescriptions a year in Mexico, where he lives.
"I think, for the first time in my life, I'm stepping away from a job that has absolutely to do with the economic system and going out to the patients," he says. Cuban is an executive at a telecommunications firm, and he made his fortune up to $40 million a year selling the health care software that makes decisions for hospitals and clinics.
But it's Cuban and other pharmaceutical executives who are striving to re-frame the industry in a new way. A 2013 Bloomberg Businessweek story quoted Cuban as saying "If the market price for prescription drugs weren't for a certain patient, it would not matter anymore," and he said he would most likely expand the company further.
Cuban says he is also trying to sell off some 40% of his shares, which would increase his market cap and could bring in additional investors.
At the same time, he is rethinking the way he distributes the company's users.
The company, which has a $2.5 billion market cap, is being sold to a Chinese company, the Shenzhen Medicine Group.
When told of the deal, Cubans' community leader in Mexico shook his head and said, "Look, to me this is the single greatest risk to Mexico's economy we can ever face."
Him with 4.5 billion could do this imagine what bill gates or warren buffet could actually do if they really cared about something other than tax deduction
I am SUBSCRIBED to such content.
take u mark people like us with pre-existing conditions really need this.
THE GREATEST THING I EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even the President, Congress, and the Senate couldn't do it. Just one brave man to stand up and say: ENOUGH.
Wow! This will put Walgreens out of business! Some Walgreen stores are scheduled to close! This is the way to bring it down.
Nice, Thanks Mr. Cuban - read a lot about you over the years. Seems like you are the real deal.
Mark Cuban got a vision. Keep supporting his venture.
So cool, there is an easy explanation for 1000% mark ups though- back room deals and favours for campaign contributions .
Bless you Mr.Cuban… you will change millions of lives single-handedly
A billionaire on the side of ordinary people.
Good for him and good for us. THIS is how you improve the lives of the middle and lower in America
Oh boy.. that's what you think is going on huh? OH BOY...........
Can you enlighten us, oh enlighted one
@@thelonelyghosts9004 No amount of typing is going to help you figure it out if you don't already get it. He's not doing it to improve the lives of Americans.
That's what's called taking imitative to better the common good. It benefits everybody
Cost of medication, health, education, etc etc is just ridiculous in the US. America really isn’t a first world country if people gotta pay thousands for a damn ambulance
Thank you🙏 both
I don't know if prices are inflated in America but I work as a pharmacist in Canada and can say a lot of those prices are incorrect. They advertise the brand name medication price (Atorvastatin) on the website normally which is higher and show you the strongest strength (80mg comes in). Which in a way is deceiving to people who don't know much about drugs. Even then the cost that they advertise is higher in USD than CAD which is weird since CAD dollar is weaker. But still, it is cheaper than pharmacies which is good. It's great for people who don't have insurance. The big thing is that you waive the dispensing fee which can cost between 6-15 dollars depending on pharmacy
Generics are supposed to cost far cheaper than branded meds. So, it appears that some companies selling generics are inflating the prices to make huge profits instead of passing the savings to patients. Shameful profiteering. Good for Mr. Cuban for doing something about this anomalous situation.