Compounded Pyrimethamine: 'Personalized Medicine' Or 'Unapproved Drug'?

Responding to the Express Scripts' deal to promote use of a compounded alternative to its drug, Turing says physicians shouldn't prescribe the compound, since it is an unapproved and unsafe drug. But the compounder, Imprimis, says each prescription is custom-made, making it a "personalized medicine."

In an attempt to dissuade physicians from following Express Scripts Holding Co.'s advice to prescribe compounded pyrimethamine/leucovorin as an alternative to Turing Pharmaceuticals AG's high-priced Daraprim (pyrimethamine), Turing is arguing that the combination compound should be considered a risky "unapproved drug."

However, the firm Express Scripts has contracted to fulfill prescriptions for the compounded product, Imprimis Pharmaceuticals Inc., maintained that...

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