KaloBios fires Shkreli, embattled pharmaceutical executive reviled for price hikes

On Friday he resigned from Turing Pharmaceuticals. He is accused of using money from his first pharmaceutical company, Retrophin, to pay off money-losing investors in his hedge funds.

Shkreli, 32, who is free on $5 million bail, maintains he is not guilty.

The decision comes after the much-criticized pharmaceutical executive was arrested Thursday on charges of security fraud related to another drug company where he had previously served as chief executive.

The move follows his arrest last week on securities fraud charges unrelated to the drug pricing issues that drew national scorn. One board member who came in with Shkreli, Tony Chase, also resigned, the company said.

UC Davis and the Moffitt Cancer Center in Florida, which were running a clinical trial for a KaloBios drug to treat a form of leukemia, have suspended the trials “pending further analysis”, according to Bloomberg”.

KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc. confirmed to the Wall Street Journal on Monday that Shkreli was removed from his CEO position, which he assumed in November.

The account was compromised just hours after Shkreli pleaded his innocence on the social network following his arrest.

It was a surprising reversal, even for an executive dubbed the “most hated man in America” this fall after he jacked up the price of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per pill.

The price-gouging scandal sparked widespread criticism and condemnation before Shkreli was arrested. However, his Twitter account also had been hacked over the weekend, CNBC reported. He responded to a tweet from Hillary Clinton criticising him for the price hike simply saying: “Lol”. “Willing to donate hundreds of thousands to charities before I go to prison…” and, “I am now a god”. Since his arrest, the trading of the stocks has been halted.

“Among the tweets, which have since been deleted, one said: “**** the Federal Bureau of Investigation you know they can’t touch a god like me”.

It alleged that Shkreli made false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material information about the company’s business. He famously reached out to San Francisco scientist and entrepreneur Ethan Perlstein on Twitter, which led to Perlstein’s startup receiving early stage backing from Shkreli’s previous company Retrophin.