A Boston healthcare technology and diagnostics company is working with Mark Cuban's drug distribution company to give customers access to more affordable medications.
Now, the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. — better known as Cost Plus Drugs — will become a pharmacy option for customers using binx health's testing services, in addition to traditional pharmacies like CVS and Walmart.
Formerly known as Atlas Genetics, binx offers online access to testing to diagnose conditions like diabetes, heart disease and sexually transmitted infections. The company also places FDA-cleared devices in clinics for the rapid detection of chlamydia and gonorrhea. CEO Jeff Luber said binx’s overall mission is to make testing “more convenient, more accessible and really to broaden access to care.”
The company’s digital health business facilitates diagnostic testing through its online platform. Luber said customers visit binx’s website and complete a health assessment. This information is reviewed by a healthcare provider who prescribes a test and, if necessary, medication that corresponds to their health condition. Binx coordinates the logistics of shipping collection kits, provides instructions on testing, offers customer service and shares test results. Binx typically works with groups to provide its services, such as universities, departments of health and health systems.
Mark Cuban launched Cost Plus Drugs as a public benefit company in January 2022. The billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks, known to many as a regular on the ABC show Shark Tank, created the online pharmacy to provide discounts on generic prescription drug regardless of whether a customer has health insurance. For example, the company’s website advertises Aripiprazole (a generic for Abilify) as costing around $677.70 at other pharmacies. Cost Plus Drug Company sells the same medicine for $6.
Cost Plus Drug has linked up with quite a few companies as it seeks to expand its reach. Recently, the company partnered with Seattle-based Zócalo Health, a virtual healthcare service for Latino patients, to give its patients access to its medications. Cost Plus Drug also teamed up with RevSpring to use its payment technology for participating pharmacies to track prescription sales through its 12-month payments tracking dashboard.
Luber said there was strong alignment between binx and Cost Plus Drug as they’re both focused on safe and affordable healthcare offerings with complimentary focuses on testing and medicines. Both companies also believe in moving away from solely “brick-and-mortar care,” Luber added.
“If you’re really going to break down those barriers, you’ve got to have an anytime, anywhere solution,” Luber said.
The chief executive said their pricing is “not dissimilar” to that of Cost Plus Drug. He said the tests are very clearly priced and there are no unnecessary costs, such as physician visit charges that occur when patients visit a doctor to request a test. He noted that the company also bills insurances and does its best to indicate what is covered in pricing. Binx’s assessment and testing process can also be done at home without a need to travel or take time off work, Luber said.
Luber said partnerships such as this one between binx and Cost Plus Drug are beginning to change how the healthcare industry operates and offers care.
“None of the reductions in barriers to testing and healthcare access improves by any single company. It takes collaborations like this to make it happen,” Luber said
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