So-- I'm thinking that this MUST be taking advantage of some loophole somewhere.
So-- patient has Rx for a drug.
Company which sells that drug markets it for $10 (say)...
patient's insurance company covers the cost of that drug.... $0 co-pay, patient has the drug they were prescribed....
then new Company BUYS the rights to sell that drug, and marks it up to $1000.
One of two things (at least for insured patients)--
1. insurance CANNOT respond rapidly enough to eliminate the drug from the formulary-- and is forced to pay that $1000 because the co-pay on that drug in whatever-tier is still $0.
2. insurance CAN eliminate drug from formulary, and does so. With alacrity, probably. Patient either pays out of pocket, uses 'patient assistance' or goes without the drug.
So then, how does that pricing/marketing model work for uninsured or government-insured patients?
It is an honest question-- I don't know enough about reimbursement mechanisms to know the answer. But my suspicion is that the latter has been identified as a profit-center in some way.