Article: Did you ever wonder how much it costs a drug company for the active ingredient in prescription medications?

Sharon L. Davis,  Budget Analyst-U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC office spoke recently against rising drug prices and why you should shop at COSTCO for your medications.    

Did you ever wonder how much it costs a drug company for the active ingredient in prescription medications? Some people think it must cost a lot, since many drugs sell for more than $2.00 per tablet. Ms Davis did a search of offshore chemical synthesizers that supply the active ingredients found in drugs approved by the FDA. As she has revealed in past issues of Life Extension, a significant percentage of drugs sold in the United States contain active ingredients made in other countries. In her independent investigation of how much profit drug companies really make, she obtained the actual price of active ingredients used in some of the most popular drugs sold in America.   The data below speaks for itself.   

Celebrex: 100 mg  Consumer price (100 tablets): $130.27 
Cost of general active ingredients: $ 0.60 
Percent markup: 21,712%  

Claritin: 1 0 mg  Consumer Price (100 tablets): $215.17  
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.71 
Percent markup: 30,306%   

Keflex: 250 mg  Consumer Price (100 tablets): $157.39  
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.88 
Percent markup: 8,372%   

Lipitor: 20 mg  Consumer Price (100 tablets): $272.37  
Cost of general active ingredients: $5.80 
Percent markup: 4,696%   

Norvasc: 10 mg  Consumer price (100 tablets): $188.29
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.14 
Percent markup: 134,493%   

Paxil: 20 mg  Consumer price (100 tablets): $220.27  
Cost of general active ingredients: $7.60 
Percent markup: 2,898%   

Prevacid: 30 mg  Consumer price (100 tablets): $44.77  
Cost of general active ingredients: $1.01 
Percent markup: 34,136%   

Prozac: 20 mg  Consumer price (100 tablets): $247.47  
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.11 
Percent markup: 224,973%   

Tenormin: 50 mg  Consumer price (100 tablets): $104.47  
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.13 
Percent markup: 80,362%   

Vasotec: 10 mg  Consumer price (100 tablets): $102.37  
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.20 
Percent markup: 51,185%   

Xanax: 1 mg  Consumer price (100 tablets) : $136.79  
Cost of general active ingredients: $0.024 
Percent markup: 569,958%   

Zestril: 20 mg  Consumer price (100 tablets) $89.89 
Cost of general active ingredients $3.20 
Percent markup: 2,809   

Zithromax: 600 mg  Consumer price (100 tablets): $1,482.19 Cost of general active ingredients: $18.78 
Percent markup: 7,892%  

Zocor: 40 mg  Consumer price (100 tablets): $350.27  
Cost of general active ingredients: $8.63 
Percent markup: 4,059%   

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