Students make $35K drug for $10

Posted by | December 3, 2016 20:21 | Filed under: Planet Pot Luck

High school students were able to create a drug that sells in the U.S. for between $35,000 and $110,000.

Pyrimethamine, the active ingredient in Daraprim, treats a parasitic infection in people with weak immune systems such as pregnant women and HIV patients.

In August 2015, the price of Daraprim in the US rose from $US13.50 per tablet to $US750 when Turing Pharmaceuticals, and its controversial then-chief executive Martin Shkreli, acquired the drug’s exclusive rights and hiked up the price.

Since then, the 17-year-olds from Sydney Grammar have worked in their school laboratory to create the drug cheaply in order to draw attention to its inflated price overseas, which student Milan Leonard said was “ridiculous”.

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By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.

4 responses to Students make $35K drug for $10

  1. bpollen December 3rd, 2016 at 20:35

    Shkrewing Shkreli – that should be a national pastime.

  2. amersham1046 December 3rd, 2016 at 20:59

    Kids like this are a threat to American style free enterprise

  3. Duke Woolworth December 4th, 2016 at 08:48

    If they paid themselves for the research and production time, and the appropriate taxes, and the overhead of running the lab, plus the raw materials, and took a little profit, the actual cost could be as much as $200.

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