Drug CEO who hiked price of lifesaving drug under arrest

Martin Shkreli, the former hedge fund manager under fire for buying a pharmaceutical company and ratcheting up the price of a life-saving drug, is escorted by law enforcement agents in New York Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015.

Turing sparked controversy earlier this year after news reports that it had raised the fee of Daraprim, a 62-yr-antique treatment for a risky parasitic infection, to $750 a tablet from $13.50 after acquiring it.

Shkreli is, of course, the piece-of-shit pharmaceutical CEO who jacked up the price of an AIDS/cancer drug to unbelievably high levels. Retrophin has sued Shkreli for $65 million, and the federal indictment against him appears to mirror numerous claims in that case. The charges instead involve his actions at another drug company, Retrophin, which he ran as CEO from 2012 to 2014.

A NY lawyer is accused of conspiring with Shkreli in this latest scheme.

Many on social media said Shkreli was getting what he deserved.

Shkreli rose to public attention this year for increasing the cost of the drug Daraprim, which has proven essential in treating toxoplasmosis. Daraprim is used to treat weak immune systems, most prominently HIV patients.

Bloomberg says prosecutors charged Shkreli with taking stock from his former company Retrophin to pay off “unrelated business dealings”.

Along with heading Turing Pharmaceuticals, Shkreli went on to concurrently become CEO of KaloBios Pharmaceuticals after being ousted from Retrophin. “I feel great. I’m licking my chops over the suits I’m going to file against them”.

The 32-year-old is accused of illegally using funds from Retrophin, a biotechnology company he founded in 2011, to pay off debts from his failed hedge fund, MSMB Capital Management.

Within days, Shkreli announced that he and an investor group had acquired 70 percent of the shares on grounds that “KaloBios’ lenzilumab is a very promising candidate for the treatment of various rare and orphan diseases”.

Shares of KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc. shed more than half their value, or $12.56, to $11.03 in early trading Thursday.

Many made light of Shkreli’s recent purchase of the sole copy of an album by rap legends the Wu-Tang Clan for $2 million.