Geoff: People searching for
cheaper alternatives to high
priced prescription drugs have a
new and perhaps unexpected
option.
It's an online pharmacy founded
by billionaire businessman,
"Shark tank" star and Dallas
mavericks owner mark Cuban.
His new direct-to-consumer
company cost plus drugs offers
more than 100 generic
medications at discounted
prices.
And mark Cuban joins us now.
Thanks for being with us.
Mark Cuban thanks for having me
on, geoff.
Geoff: So you have solved the
problem that politicians have
struggled with for decades.
And it strikes me that one of
the ways you were able to do it
was by [16:28:43]approaching it
as a business problem to tackle
and less so as a political
issue.
Mark: As an entrepreneur, any
time I see an industry that's
been run the same way for
decades, if not generations, and
it's been obfuscated to the
point where there's no
transparency and you have
associations trying to protect
that opaqueness, to me that's an
opportunity and that's exactly
what we saw with the
prescription drug industry.
And by adding transparency and
our approach at cost plus drugs,
which is we'll show you our
actual cost, we'll mark it up
15%, we'll add $3 pharmacy
handling fee and $5 shipping.
And that's all you ever pay.
That simplification and
transparency has really had an
impact.
Geoff: So what was the genesis
of this company?
As I understand it, there was a
doctor with a business plan who
reached out to you with a cold
email.
First of all, I'm not even sure
how he would get your email, but
he did.
And you were receptive to it.
Mark: Very much so.
Dr. Oshmyansky, who's just the
definition of rocket scientist,
he's an M.D., he's a
mathematician, you name it.
He's he's got that after his
name.
Reached out to me with the
concept of doing specialty
pharmacies, where we'll be able
to take drugs that were in high
demand but were in short supply
and reduce those prices.
And I was like, that's a great
idea, but let's see if we can
make it more mainstream.
So we spent the next three plus
years going through and getting
all our I's dotted and T's
crossed in terms of
registrations and certifications
and got to the point where we
were able to go live with
costplusdrugs.com on January 19
of this year.
Geoff: You could devote your
time, money and attention to any
number of things.
Why focus on this?
Mark: Because it is just wrong
that people have to choose
between eating, you know, their
rent, and taking their
medications or buying their
medications.
In United States of America in
2022, it's just wrong.
And it was obvious there was not
going to be a political
solution.
And even the attempts that are
being discussed don't really get
to the heart of the problem.
Setting a price, or doing a
discount against other
prices, all the all these
numbers work from artificially
set retail and wholesale prices.
The reality is the only number
that matters is cost.
What can we as the retailer or
the distributor buy it for and
how low can we sell it? So we
decided to take the exact
opposite approach that
politicians have been taking.
And to me, you know, once we
realized that we could do this,
I had to do it.
And by the way, we're past 100
drugs now.
We just added another 90
yesterday.
So we're past 700.
And while those first 700 plus
are generic, we will be adding
brand name drugs as well over
the course of the year and by
the end of this year, we hope to
be passed 2,000 drugs.
Geoff: What about insulin and
epipens? Are those going to be
available?
Mark: We are working on it.
I can't give you a date.
It could be six months.
It could be a year.
It could be two years.
But, you know, the reality,
is that the branded name
manufacturers that we're
starting to work with see us as
really as an opportunity to
regain control of pricing.
Four of the biggest companies in
the country now are vertically
integrated so that they have
pharmacy benefit managers,
insurance companies and huge
retail pharmacy, among other
companies.
And that vertical integration
truly allows them to distort
pricing.
And we're able to work around
them by not working through
them.
Geoff: Why hasn't this been
tried before?
Mark: It basically has been
tried before.
But typically what happens,
entrepreneurs like myself will
build up the companies, the
equivalent of a
costplusdrugs.com, and then
the big pharmacy benefit
managers or the big insurance
companies, they'll buy them.
But I've been incredibly blessed
in that my next dollar is not
going to change my life, but my
ability to invest in
costplusdrugs.com is an ability
to change millions of lives in
this country, if not tens of
millions over the next two
years.
And, you know, if there is a
missiothat I'd like to
accomplish, that's it.
Geoff: What other seemingly
intractable problems do you
think can be solved through an
entrepreneurial approach? [6.3s]
Mark: Health care in general,
there is a law that says the
hospitals have got to show their
pricing for their top procedure,
all their pricing.
And there are hospitals who are
willing to take the $100 a day
fine, rather than show their
pricing.
And the fact that it's only $100
a day shows you the seriousness
of it.
So, you know, health care across
the board is ripe for
disruption.
Geoff: I want to ask you about
your potential political future.
You have been an outspoken voice
in the last two elections- 2016,
2020- an outspoken anti-Trump
voice.
If he's to run again in 2024,
everything suggests that he
will, would that incentivize you
to run?
Mark: No.
No.
Because, you know, one of the
things I try to teach my kid is
you don't have to be the leader
to be a leader.
You know, and I think with cost
plus drugs and what we're doing
here, I can have more of an
impact on the pricing of
medication, which is a huge
problem across this country,
than I could as president of the
United States.
And I think we're already taking
those first steps and
demonstrating it.
And if we can get through this
over the next two or three, four
or five years and add all the
drugs that are insanely priced,
you know, we'll go on to the
next thing.
And I think that type of impact
is greater than the president of
the United States can have.
And I don't mean to say that
from an arrogant perspective,
but just as a business person,
there are industries that are
important to us as citizens of
this country that I think can
still be disruptive.
Geoff: Mark Cuban.
Great speaking with you.
Thanks so much for your time.
Mark: Thank you.