Mark Cuban's online pharmacy set to launch Humira biosimilar

[July 06, 2023]  By Michael Erman

(Reuters) - Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs, an online pharmacy launched by the billionaire to sell drugs directly to customers at low prices, should soon begin selling Coherus BioSciences's biosimilar version of AbbVie Inc's blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira, Cuban said on Wednesday.

"We should be getting it today or tomorrow," Cuban said in an email.

Cuban declined to make any projections on the size of the market the pharmacy will supply. "But we will be here and have it readily available to patients on costplusdrugs.com," he said.

Coherus said last month it would sell the biosimilar, branded Yusimry, at $995 per carton, compared with the current list price of Humira of $6,922 per carton. Cost Plus Drugs will sell Yusimry for $569.27 plus dispensing and shipping fees.

Coherus introduced its Humira biosimilar in the U.S. market this month alongside offerings from other drugmakers such as Boehringer Ingelheim, Sandoz and Organon.

Usually prices fall, often dramatically, when multiple generic versions of a widely used medication enter the market.

But manufacturers of Humira biosimilars - the name for copies of biologic drugs - are likely to keep prices high to compete with one another for leverage with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which negotiate insurance coverage on behalf of their customers - large employers and health insurance plans, industry experts said.

Sales of Humira, once the world's biggest-selling drug, are expected to drop 37% this year, AbbVie said in February.

Cuban's Cost Plus Drugs aims to drive down the cost of drugs broadly by selling them at a 15% markup over its cost, plus pharmacy fees. While some insured patients can use their benefits on the website, the biggest savings from the pharmacy are currently for uninsured and underinsured people.

Cuban said the company hopes to provide other biosimilar drugs as well. "Our mission is to be the low-cost provider of any and all medications we are able to carry," he wrote.

(Reporting by Michael Erman; Editing by David Holmes)

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