Imprimis offers $1 alternative to Turing's $750 pill

Oct 22 (Reuters) - A specialty drugmaker said it would sell
for less than $1 a version of Daraprim, an anti-infective drug
at the heart of allegations of "price gouging" involving Turing
Pharmaceuticals after it hiked the price by over 5,000 percent
to $750 a pill.
The 62-year-old Daraprim is sold in the United States by the
tiny Turing, whose controversial CEO Martin Shkreli has become
the face of industry profiteering after bumping up the drug's
price to $750 from $13.50 a pill after buying it in August.
San Diego-based Imprimis Pharmaceuticals Inc IMMY.O said
on Thursday it was offering a customizable compounded
formulation of the costly drug in the form of an oral capsule.
The company develops compounded medications for prescription
drugs that do not meet the specific needs of a patient.
Unlike Daraprim, Imprimis's formulation in itself is not FDA
approved, and can only be used when prescribed by a doctor for a
particular patient.
Daraprim is used to fight toxoplasmosis, the second leading
cause of death from foodborne illness in the country, according
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which
estimates about one million people in the U.S. are infected
annually with the parasite.
The United States has no price controls on medicines even
though such caps are common in Europe.
Last week, Canada's Valeant Pharmaceutical International Inc
VRX.TO VRX.N disclosed that its pricing and other practices
were under investigation by federal prosecutors in New York and
Massachusetts.
Valeant has attracted attention with several high-profile
drug price hikes, including that of heart medication Isuprel,
which it has increased eightfold since acquiring it in 2013.
U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Democratic
lawmakers have criticized price hikes in the U.S. drug industry,
triggering a selloff in the life sciences sector.