On March 7, Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems became the first hospital system to partner with and buy medicines manufactured by Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co.
CHS is partnering with Mark Cuban's pharmaceutical company, which sells thousands of drugs at a discounted rate, to address drug supply issues.
The two organizations said they will focus on the rising cost of pharmaceuticals, drug shortages, pharmaceutical waste, and patient safety and medication error prevention, according to a CHS news release.
Mr. Cuban's company offers "more flexible ordering opportunities, including alternative vial sizes for drug administration, which can reduce waste," the release said. "Because Cost Plus Drugs will provide drugs in vial sizes that many other drug manufacturers won't offer, there is less potential for dosage errors when drugs must be measured prior to administration at the bedside."
Cost Plus Drugs said it will begin producing two drugs, epinephrine and norepinephrine, in early March. The company recently opened its $11 million, 20,000-square-foot drug manufacturing facility in Dallas. The finish and fill plant will make injectable drugs that are in shortage, and pediatric oncology solutions are scheduled to be next.
A few weeks prior, the drug company startup unveiled a "marketplace" for hospitals, ASCs, clinics and other healthcare sites, which stocks vital medicines currently in shortage.
Community Health Systems has more than 70 hospitals and hundreds of care locations. The system's locations in Pennsylvania and Texas have agreed to purchase medicines made at Cost Plus Factory.
Cost Plus Drugs has been working toward entering the health system industry since at least November 2022, when Mr. Cuban said he was in talks with hospitals about their pharmaceutical needs.