Billionaire Mark Cuban Advocates for Lower Drug Prices

Rising pharmaceutical costs are a problem that has gained significant attention recently, prompting concern among individuals at all income levels. Mark Cuban, billionaire entrepreneur and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, recently expressed interest in stopping pharmaceutical companies from price gouging.

“I’m all for capitalism at its purest, but it requires capitalists acting like human beings first,” Cuban wrote in an email to STAT. “If they don’t, the cost of health care goes up for everyone to the point where we can’t afford insurance and people die or receive inadequate care.”

Cuban said that major stakeholders such as shareholders, insurers, and the general population need to pressure these companies to reduce prices or face legislation that could reduce their profits. Although Cuban is not an expert in the pharmaceutical market, he recognizes the enormous investment potential in pharmaceuticals, since it is an area that will always be a high priority.

Cuban said in the interview with STAT there are changes that could be made to reduce costs, such as the proposals in a Harvard Business Review article he recently Tweeted with the caption: “It’s time to bring drug pricing under control. Empathy arbitrage cannot be a pricing strategy.”

The article discusses different issues with the pharmaceutical market, and even briefly addresses the presumptive Presidential candidate’s health plans, previously reported on by AJPB. Cuban also suggests government-issued exclusivities that include the extension of drugs that could potentially reduce costs.

Critics of these ideas could argue that these companies will stop producing life-saving drugs, but Cuban disagrees.

“This is how they make their money,” he told STAT. “They will be smarter about how they spend their money, but they can’t stop spending because it means they won’t make as much.”