Pyrimethamine was approved as a generic in the United States in February 2020.In January 2020 the FTC filed a case against Vyera "alleging an elaborate anticompetitive scheme to preserve a monopoly for the life-saving drug, Daraprim". A settlement was reached in December 2021. According to AP News, the settlement "requires Vyera and Phoenixus to provide up to $40 million in relief over 10 years to consumers who allegedly were fleeced by their actions and requires them to make Daraprim available to any potential generic competitor at the cost of producing the drug." According to Law360, company executive Kevin Mulleady "agreed to a seven-year ban on working for or holding more than an 8% share in most pharmaceutical companies." Other countries
In India, over a dozen manufacturers sell pyrimethamine tablets, and multiple combinations of generic pyrimethamine are available for a price ranging from US$0.04 to US$0.10 each (3–7 rupees).In the UK, the same drug is available from GSK at a cost of US$20 (£13) for 30 tablets (about $0.66 each).In Australia, the drug is available in most pharmacies at a cost of US$9.35 (A$12.99) for 50 tablets (around US$0.18 each).In Brazil, the drug is available for R$0.07 a pill, or about US$0.02.In Canada, the drug was reportedly discontinued in 2013, but hospitals may make the drug in-house when it is needed. As of December 2015, Daraprim imported into Canada directly from GSK UK is available from an online pharmacy for US$2.20 per tablet.In Switzerland, the drug is available for US$9.45 (CHF9.05) for 30 tablets (around US$0.32 a piece).
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In the United States in 2015, Turing Pharmaceuticals was criticized for increasing the price 50-fold, from US$13.50 to $750 a tablet, leading to a cost of $75,000 for a course of treatment reported at one hospital. United States
In the United States, in 2015, with Turing Pharmaceuticals acquisition of the US marketing rights for Daraprim tablets, Daraprim became a single-source and specialty pharmacy item, and the price was increased. The cost of a monthly course for a person on 75 mg dose rose to about $75,000/month at one hospital, or $750 per tablet while it was previously priced at 13.50.Outpatients could no longer obtain the medication from a community pharmacy, but only through a single dispensing pharmacy, Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy, and institutions could no longer order from their general wholesaler, but had to set up an account with the Daraprim Direct program. Presentations from Retrophin, a company formerly headed by Martin Shkreli, CEO of Turing, from which Turing acquired the rights to Daraprim, suggested that a closed distribution system could prevent generic competitors from legally obtaining the drugs for the bioequivalence studies required for FDA approval of a generic drug.Shkreli defended the price hike by saying, "If there was a company that was selling an Aston Martin at the price of a bicycle, and we buy that company and we ask to charge Toyota prices, I dont think that that should be a crime." As a result of the backlash, Shkreli hired a crisis public relations firm to help explain his funds move.