Mark Cuban: Our generic drug prices are lower than most countries in the world, and we receive purchase requests from all over.
Mark Cuban stated that our generic drug prices are actually lower than most countries in the world, and we receive purchase requests from all over.
He pointed out that we do not sell brand-name drugs because PBMs do not allow manufacturers to sell to us, and these drugs are more expensive.
For many brand-name drugs, if we could sell with a 15% markup, the prices would be close to or even lower than their pricing.
As long as we let large corporate groups and their PBMs set prices, we will always pay more.
They are too big and simply do not care!
At the market mechanism level, PBMs have agreements with manufacturers that restrict direct sales channels, with funds flowing from a transparent markup model to a pricing system controlled by traditional intermediaries. Event-driven criticism has increased attention to the transparency of the drug supply chain, benefiting users of direct sales platforms like Cost Plus Drugs, while putting pressure on the high-price structure of brand-name drugs that rely on PBMs.
Source: Public information
ABAB AI Insight
Mark Cuban has been challenging traditional drug pricing through Cost Plus Drugs since 2022, having previously criticized PBM rebates and formulary control. This response continues his strategy of contrasting the transparency of generic drug markups with the restrictions on brand-name drugs, similar to other direct sales models attempting to bypass intermediaries.
In terms of capital pathways, the company sells generic drugs at a cost-plus-15% model and attracts global demand, motivated to prove that intermediaries are the main cause of high prices. Resources flow from consumer direct purchases to a supply chain that bypasses PBMs, forming a closed loop from public pricing to policy pressure.
This is analogous to the competition between early online pharmacies and traditional chains, as well as the repeated scrutiny of PBMs in U.S. drug pricing reform. The current statement is transitioning from a commercial experiment to an industry structural critique, with the industry's position shifting from price disruptor to participant in the power struggle of the supply chain.
The structural judgment pertains to the transfer of pricing power, where PBMs lock in manufacturer channels through formulary and rebates, preventing direct sales platforms from obtaining brand-name drug supplies, resulting in the coexistence of low-priced generics and high-priced brand-name drugs, ultimately burdening consumers with intermediary markups.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
Low-priced generics prove that intermediaries are the source of markups.
PBMs are too big to care about transparent pricing.
A 15% markup is sufficient to beat most traditional channels.