After experiencing unfair drug pricing first-hand, radiologist Alex Oshmyansky, MD, set out to protect patients with a new pharmaceutical business model.
His upcoming, highly anticipated TexMed 2025 presentation – which will kick off TexMed’s CME-eligible opening session Friday, May 9 at 8 am – will discuss drug pricing in the U.S., his journey into entrepreneurship, and more.
Dr. Oshmyansky founded the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company – named for American businessman and company investor Mark Cuban – to lower generic drug prices by moving to what he calls a “cost-plus” pricing strategy.
The approach aims to reduce prescription drug prices by charging only the cost of manufacturing and distribution, plus a small markup for overhead. Dr. Oshmyansky’s goal: to increase price transparency for patients and remove middlemen from the process – such as pharmacy benefit managers, which Dr. Oshmyansky said often “inflate” drug prices.
In 2024, an interim staff report by the Federal Trade Commission found pharmacy benefit managers, which manage prescription drug programs for insurers, may be profiting by inflating drug costs.
“I had patients have bad health care outcomes from not being able to afford their medications,” Dr. Oshmyansky told Texas Medicine Today in email correspondence. “The biggest issue in drug pricing is the presence of middlemen called pharmacy benefit managers.”
Dr. Oshmyansky’s presentation will also detail his transition from exam rooms to board rooms, a journey he said mirrored his medical career despite a “learning curve.”
“The early stage of creating a startup is a lot like a less intense version of surgical internship. You create a to-do list every day and you check off all the boxes,” he shared. “As you progress to leading a larger organization, learning how to set culture and manage a large group of people is a unique challenge.”
TexMed will be hosted this year May 8-10 at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa located at 23808 Resort Pkwy, San Antonio. Registration for TMA members, county medical society and association staff, and TMA Alliance members is free – one of the many benefits of an annual TMA membership.
Physicians can register online or in-person. A $25 registration fee will be charged for on-site registrants. For more information, contact Keri Anderson or the TMA Knowledge Center at (800) 880-7955.
Alisa Pierce
Reporter, Division of Communications and Marketing
(512) 370-1469