Jaguar Health in the hot seat over price hike on potential coronavirus drug

Two members of Congress have sent a letter to Jaguar Health, asking the company to reverse a major price increase of a drug that could be used to treat side effects from SARS-Cov-2.

According to the letter, Jaguar recently boosted the price of its medication, Mytesi, from $688.52 per bottle to $2,206.2 per bottle. Mytesi has been approved to treat gastrointestinal side effects related to antiviral drugs for HIV or AIDS. The FDA denied Emergency Use Authorization approval of the drug for the coronavirus, so the company has been in talks with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases about increasing the use of Mytesi on COVID-19 patients.

The letter sent to Jaguar says that the timing of the price increase “raises questions about whether this decision was connected to the company’ expectation that it eventually could market Mytesi to treat coronavirus patients.”

The letter also said that the price hike could prevent Americans from accessing the drug if it is approved as a treatment for the coronavirus.

Read the Reuters report.