Martin Shkreli fired as CEO of another drug company

Shares of KaloBios have been suspended since Thursday, December 17, after falling more than 50% in pre-market trade on news of Shkreli’s arrest that day.

On Thursday, the 32-year-old pharmaceutical executive was arrested on charges of securities and wire fraud from his time at Retrophin Inc.

On Monday, the company said Shkreli was “terminated” as CEO and had resigned from the board. To pay back his disgruntled clients, he allegedly looted Dollars 11 million from another pharmaceutical company, Retrophin, where he was CEO. At the same time, KaloBios also announced Shkreli’s appointment as CEO.

Shkreli, who has become the poster child for the issue of soaring prices for prescription medications, has already stepped down as CEO of private drugmaker Turing Pharmaceuticals Inc, in addition to resigning from KaloBios’ board of directors.

Shkreli’s Turing Pharmaceuticals was the vehicle for the Daraprim effort.

He also sought to reassure patients who rely on Daraprim that their access to the drug would remain unfettered (although still at a very high price point). The medication is used to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease that afflicts people with compromised immune systems, such as pregnant women and individuals afflicted with AIDS.

The price-gouging scandal sparked widespread criticism and condemnation before Shkreli was arrested. Another said, “Anyone want free money? Willing to donate hundreds of thousands to charities before I go to prison…”

“‘Trying to find anything we could to stop him’ was the attitude of the government”, Shkreli said during the interview, in which he was accompanied by his lawyers.

His You Tube account, where he’s frequently live-streamed himself working on his home computer, talking to himself and eating, also was hit with posts belittling him and hasn’t been active since Sunday.

KaloBios was on the verge of shutting down last month when Shkreli and colleagues swooped in, bought a majority of shares, and fired the previous board. Trading will not resume until the company satisfied Nasdaq’s request for additional information, the exchange said in a statement.

Shkreli is accused by federal prosecutors of using shell companies after his now defunct hedge fund MSMB Capital Management lost millions of dollars.