Marathon Technologies

Marathon Pharmaceuticals was a private biopharmaceutical company based in Northbrook, Illinois, focused on developing and commercializing treatments for rare diseases, particularly neurological and movement disorders. The company gained significant public and political attention in 2017 for its pricing of Emflaza (deflazacort), a corticosteroid for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), which it planned to launch at $89,000 per year despite the drug's long-standing availability at much lower costs outside the U.S. Following intense scrutiny, Marathon sold the rights to Emflaza to PTC Therapeutics for $140 million and subsequently ceased its primary operations. Its business model involved acquiring late-stage or existing drugs for orphan indications and navigating them through the FDA approval process to secure market exclusivity.