This Week in Startups: Solving prescription drug pricing in the US with Cost Plus Drugs & Capital RX CEOs | E1518

Today, we have two interviews with founders innovating in the US prescription drug market to bring prices down for consumers.

First up, Molly talks with Alex Oshmyansky, CEO of The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, about building a "parallel supply chain", the importance of transparency, and a breakdown of the "financial engineering" in the industry. (3:22)

Then, she talks to Capital RX CEO AJ Loiacono for a full breakdown on PBMs (pharmacy benefit managers) and the opaque pharmaceutical supply chain. (40:35)

(0:00) Molly intros today's two interviews

(3:22) Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs Company CEO and Founder Alex Oshmyansky on operating a startup while still being a practicing doctor and Cost Plug Drugs' business model

(11:21) Harmonic - Get $4000 off at https://harmonic.ai/twist

(12:43) Alex explains the state of the US drug space, why they're trying to build a "parallel supply chain", the importance of transparency, and the origin story of the company

(23:44) Prometheus - Go to https://prometheusalts.com or download it on the App Store and use the access code TWIST to sign up

(25:11) Drug production, hot button drug issues

(32:16) Alex explains the "financial engineering" and profiteering in the prescription drug space

(39:15) BairesDev - Go to https://baires.dev/twist and get $10,000 off when you sign your first contract

(40:35) Molly intros the next guest: Capital RX CEO AJ Loiacono, who explains the convoluted and opaque pharmaceutical supply chain

(54:30) Understanding PBMs (pharmacy benefit managers) and the broader healthcare industry

(1:04:09) AJ gets into his background, starting Capital RX, and how it fits into the ecosystem