Why This Little Known Biotech Is Pharma's New Poster Child for Price Gouging

Another lawmaker is taking on a pharmaceutical company for drug pricing. Following a report in the Washington Post, Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, sent a letter to the president of Strongbridge Biopharma regarding the escalating price of Keveyis, a drug that has gone from free of charge to more than $15,000.

At the turn of the century, patients could buy Keveyis, formerly known as Daranide, for about $50 for 100 tablets. Daranide has been on the market since 1958. Originally approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat glaucoma, the drug gained favor in treating immobility associated with the rare genetic illness called periodic paralysis. The Washington Post chronicled the long pricing history of the drug. Over the past 17 years, the drug has gone from $50 for 100 pills to $13,650 for the same amount in 2015, when it became approved by the FDA to treat periodic paralysis. The drug then became available for free in 2016 when Taro Pharmaceutical Industries, a subsidiary of Sun Pharmaceuticals, announced it would provide Keveyis for free to patients diagnosed with the rare periodic paralysis illness. But in 2016, Strongbridge Biopharma acquired Keveyis from Taro and proceeded to raise the price to $15,001 for 100 pills.

Following the Post’s report, McCaskill sent her letter to Mark Ponds, president of Strongbridge, seeking information as to why the company dramatically raised the price following its acquisition, as well as documents outlining company pricing strategies related to the drug. She raised concerns about patients being able to afford the medication even with assistance programs offered by the company. In her letter, McCaskill said "… patients suffering from periodic paralysis and all other Americans concerned about price spikes for rare-disease treatments do, in fact, deserve an explanation of recent company decisions."

As of this morning, there is no posted statement on the Strongbridge website responding to McCaskill’s letter or the Washington Post report.

With the Post’s expose, Stonebridge has now been elevated to the same levels of infamy as Turing Pharmaceutical’s founder Martin Shkreli, Marathon Pharmaceutical, Mylan and Ariad Pharmaceuticals. Those companies have been publicly decried over the pricing of medication. Most infamously was the unrepentant Shkreli who said he should have raised the price of toxoplasmosis drug daraprim even higher than the 5,000 percent price increase Turing set following the acquisition of that decades-old treatment.

Last year, Marathon Pharma won FDA approval for its Duchenne muscular dystrophy treatment Emflaza. The same drug is sold in Europe by Sanofi for about $1,000, but Marathon offered the drug in the U.S. for $89,000. Following the public scolding and pressure, Marathon eventually sold the drug to PTC Therapeutics.

"Time and again we’ve seen pharmaceutical companies acquire decades old prescription drugs and gouge consumers—and it’s time we explored every possible way to prevent this practice," McCaskill said in a statement on her website. "I’m prepared to work with the FDA and Congress to see what we can do to prevent these types of sudden price spikes."