Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban sells cheaper drugs to save you money
Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban — owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and star of the television show “Shark Tank” — is making good on an idea to pass on savings to purchasers of prescription drugs.
The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company is an online pharmaceutical store offering cheaper versions of generic drugs, manufacturing some of the drugs themselves. It is how this venture offsets the spiking costs of medicine, and in Cuban’s thinking, might be saving lives.
The billionaire launched the business last year with Dr. Alex Oshmyansky, a radiologist, who serves as founder and CEO. The online pharmacy went public last fall, offering a menu of low-cost drugs.
The partnership started slowly in 2021 by offering a single drug in its portfolio, but by November had added 93 more drugs in its inventory. The company hopes for even greater expansion as it lines up manufacturing centers around the country, including a possible site in Dallas.
At the heart of the plan is to upend how the pharmaceutical industry does business.
Cuban said that every American should have access to safe and affordable medicine — not having to suffer or have their illnesses worsen due to high prescription drug costs. If someone doesn’t have insurance or has a high deductible plan, paying for generic medication can be costly, he said.
So, Cuban and Oshmyansky joined forces to buy, package, distribute and manufacture cheaper versions of expensive generic drugs so they could pass on the savings to their customers. The savings on medicines can range from tens of dollars to hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of dollars.
Maintaining their ability to keep prices low is not easy as costs for just about everything is going through the roof.
“(Inflation) obviously impacts our cost of operations, but so far it has not impacted our drug pricing,” Cuban said in an email to the Star-Telegram. “In fact we expect to lower more pricing next week as we add another 113 drugs!”
Cuban said he does not want prescription drugs to be a cost people cannot afford.
What drugs are offered?
Hundreds of medications are available from the online pharmacy, with new additions offered every month. Most of the online pharmacy’s inventory cost less than $100, with most priced under $50.
Items sold on the pharmacy range from allergy to cancer medications, to medicines treating high blood pressure and Parkinson’s disease. Over 50 ailments and diseases have corresponding medications available on the website.
How does it work?
To start, customers create an online account. From there, it is an easy scan of the online pharmacy’s menu of available medicines.
Get a prescription from your doctor. The new prescription must have your name, email address, date of birth, medications to prescribe. The full details can be found here.
Following that, sit back and wait for the medication to arrive.
How does the company keep prices low?
The company saves on drug costs by finding the lowest prices for generic versions of medicines. A 15% markup is tacked on to support operations.
Cost Plus deals directly with manufacturers to get the lowest prices, cutting out benefits managers who currently negotiates prices for pharmacies.
Then there is labor, which is paid for with a $3 per drug per order cut.
The company uses Truepill to fulfill orders and makes sure it arrives on a patient’s doorstep.
So is this all legit?
Yes, with a vibrant social media audience to back things up.
Countless accounts across social media platforms have praised the online pharmacy for lowering their drug costs. Some sounding off about how the company has saved them tens of dollars if not hundreds per year.
Cuban has said he didn’t go into pharmaceuticals to make a profit, but to shake things up. The Mavs owner isn’t short on cash, sitting at a cool $4.7 billion net worth, according to Forbes annual billionaire list.
In 2021, the company only offered Albendazole, used to treat tapeworms infection, for most of the year, adding more at year’s end, according to Texas Monthly.
This year, the company significantly expanded their reach to include hundreds of drugs and Cuban said the reaction has far exceeded expectations in both impact and scale.
“People posting daily on social media how we changed their lives has been incredibly rewarding to all of us,” Cuban said in an email to the Star-Telegram. “The best part is we are just getting started.”
This story was originally published July 14, 2022 at 12:33 PM.
