What are specialty drugs?

Specialty drugs, according to the National Association of Specialty Pharmacy, are “more complex than most prescription medications and are used to treat patients with serious and often life-threatening conditions including cancer, hepatitis C, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, organ transplantation, human growth hormone deficiencies, hemophilia, and other bleeding disorders. These medications may be taken orally but often must be injected or infused and may have special administration, storage, and delivery requirements.”

How much do specialty medications account for in prescription drug spending?

In 2015, the Congressional Research Service identified specialty drugs as one of the fastest-growing areas of health care spending and said such meds accounted for one-third of prescription drug spending. They represented half of all drug spending in 2021, according to the Office of Science and Data Policy. The National Association of Specialty Pharmacy says it recognizes specialty pharmacies’ duty to “support patients who are facing reimbursement challenges for these highly needed but also frequently costly medications.” But to Cost Plus Drugs cofounder Mark Cuban, not enough is being done to lower the cost of specialty drugs to begin with. Cuban told Fortune of the chasm between his and others’ specialty drug prices, “You’ve got an industry where it’s just a mess.”

Does Cost Plus Drugs sell specialty prescriptions?

Mark Cuban isn’t solely on a mission to lower the price of popular prescription medications you might purchase from your favorite pharmacy. The billionaire entrepreneur and cofounder of the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. wants to make so-called specialty drugs more accessible, too. The “Shark Tank” alum discussed his disruption of the “opaque” pharmaceutical industry during the Fortune Brainstorm Tech dinner at CES 2025 in Las Vegas on Jan. 6. Cuban directed much of his ire at pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), third-party intermediaries between drug manufacturers and health insurance providers that he’s accused of price-gouging at patients’ expense. At dinner, he told Fortune’s Andrew Nusca that PBMs’ industry takeover extends to specialty pharmacies. “[PBMs] invent all these special categories,” Cuban said. “For most of the drugs in specialty pharmacy, including generics, there’s nothing special about them. They’re just pills.” Cuban said of the chasm between his and others’ specialty drug prices, “You’ve got an industry where it’s just a mess.”

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BYLindsey Leake

Entrepreneur and Cost Plus Drugs cofounder Mark Cuban (right) speaks with Andrew Nusca, editorial director of Fortune’s Brainstorm series, at a Brainstorm Tech dinner on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025, in Las Vegas.