WHAT DRUGS REALLY COST 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. We did a search of offshore chemical synthesizers that supply the active ingredients found in drugs approved by the FDA. As we have 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 our independent investigation of how much profit drug companies really make, we obtained the actual price of active ingredients used in some of the most popular drugs sold in America. The chart below speaks for itself. BRAND NAME OF DRUG CONSUMERPRICE : 100 TABS COST OF GENERAL ACTIVE INGREDIENTS PERCENT MARKUP Celebrex 100 mg $130.27 $0.60 21,712% Claritin 10 mg $215.17 $0.71 30,306% Keflex 250 mg $157.39 $1.88 8,372% Lipitor 20 mg $272.37 $5.80 4,696% Norvasc 10 mg $188.29 $0.14 134,493% Paxil 20 mg $220.27 $7.60 2,898% Prevacid 30 mg $44.77 $1.01 34,136% Prilosec 20 mg $360.97 $0.52 69,417% Prozac 20 mg $247.47 $0.11 224,973% Tenormin 50 mg $104.47 $0.13 80,362% Vasotec 10 mg $102.37 $0.20 51,185% Xanax 1mg $136.79 $0.024 569,958% Zestril 20 mg $89.89 $3.20 2,809% Zithromax 600mg $1,482.19 $18.78 7,892% Zocor 40mg $350.27 $8.63 4,059% Zoloft 50mg $206.87 $1.75 11,821% Drug Profits As you would imagine, between the huge markup charged to consumers and the generous corporate welfare enjoyed by the drug companies, things are going quite well. Here are a few metrics for assessing their financial status. DRUG MAKER LEADING PRODUCTS ANNUAL PROFIT 12/02 MARKET CAP (10/27/03) SYMBOL Pfizer Celebrex, Lipitor, Zoloft 9.1 Billion 245 Billion PFE Merck Zocor 7.1 Billion 100 Billion MRK AstraZeneca Prilosec 84 Million 1 Billion AZN Glaxo Paxil 132 Million 662 Million GSK