Billionaire businessman Mark Cuban, a vocal critic of Elon Musk‘s management of the social-media platform X, responded to Musk’s inquiry about the anti-parasitic treatment, ivermectin.
What happened: A user on the X platform with the handle @MdBreathe questioned Cuban in June about why his Cost Plus Drugs company doesn’t offer ivermectin, highlighting the stark pricing difference between Africa and the U.S. “Why does your company not offer ivermectin? Ivermectin costs $0.02 per pill in Africa, 100x mark-up in America,” the user pointed out.
Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs company, a public benefit corporation in Dallas, Texas, provides generic drugs at lower prices by eliminating middlemen and using a cost-plus pricing strategy.
Musk interjected, responding to the June post, “Good question.”
In his reply, Cuban explained that his company couldn’t secure a better price than other available sources but offered Hydroxychloroquine instead, a product his company sells.
Cuban also suggested Musk have his employees use Cost Plus Drugs, stating, “It will save them and @twitter a f**kton of money.”
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Walks The Talk? About six months later, Cuban updated Musk, sharing a link to purchase Ivermectin on Cost Plus Drugs’ website. He mentioned, “Wanted to let you know we got the med you were asking about.”
“And still available to save @Tesla, @SpaceX, and @X a f**ton of money, just like we have for probably tens of thousands of @X users,” he said, adding, “Just have someone reach out to me.”
Ashley St. Clair from Babylon Bee commented on Cuban’s post, expressing appreciation and suggesting a lighthearted interview. Ivermectin’s pricing on the Cost Plug Drugs website showed $91.40 for 30 tablets, roughly $3.04 per pill. Comparatively, WebMDRx lists the average cost for 30 tablets of 3mg Stromectol (a branded version of ivermectin) at $188.44 or $6.28 per pill, with a discounted price of $106.85 using the WebMDRx coupon.
The public has raised concerns about drug companies overcharging, alleging that pharmaceutical companies aggressively lobby against legislation aimed at lowering prescription drug costs.
The iShares U.S. Healthcare Providers ETF IHF ended Wednesday’s session up 1.32% at $265.01, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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Photo: Courtesy of Gage Skidmore on Flickr
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