Mark Cuban is creating an independent pharmacy network to "serve patients more widely" after pitching the idea to local pharmacy owners in February.
Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. has operated as a mail-order, online pharmacy since January 2022, but with its latest endeavor, the business is looking to expand access to its portfolio of more than 1,000 prescription drugs.
The collaboration between independent pharmacies and Cost Plus Drugs includes a "Team Cuban Card," which acts like an insurance card at pharmacy checkouts.
Independent pharmacists interested in partnering with Cost Plus Drugs were asked to complete an interest form with the company detailing the type of pharmacy they run and how patients access the services offered. So far, Cost Plus Drugs has 36 affiliate locations, with five in Florida, seven in Indiana, six in New Jersey and 18 in Texas. The company said it will add new sites every month.
This is part of a larger movement to prevent more local pharmacy closures, Mr. Cuban told Becker's.
"Unfortunately, [independent pharmacies are] not in the small communities like they used to be just because they can't afford to stay open," he said. "But if we lose them, then the PBMs control everything."
From 2003 to 2018, there were 1,231 independent local pharmacy closures in the U.S., according to the Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis.
In early April, Mr. Cuban told Becker's he is in talks with national grocery chains about a possible collaboration like this one, but no announcements have been made.
He said people have trust in their independent pharmacists, and he wants that too: "Our product is trust, and transparency supports that trust. People, hopefully, want to get everything from us, and that's where we want to be."