‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli Didn’t Say Much At Congressional Hearing

For the first few minutes of his appearance on Capitol Hill this morning, pharma bad boy Martin Shkreli was the soul of decorum.

Shkreli was arrested in December and charged with running his investment funds and companies nearly like a Ponzi scheme.

Shkreli confirmed the pronunciation of his name, but otherwise refused to answer all questions directed his way – even one about his exclusive hip-hop album. Gowdy asked. After Shkreli again invoked the Fifth Amendment, Gowdy added: “I am stunned that a conversation about an album he purchased could possibly subject him to incrimination”.

Former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli was seen smugly during a hearing in front of members of Congress.

Shkreli ticked off the committee members by smiling and smirking, while looking uninterested at all that was going on around him.

Taking the Fifth Amendment, he replied to every question: “On the advice of counsel, I invoke my Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and respectfully decline to answer your question”.

“I dont live my life for support from other people”, he said.

He gained notoriety previous year when his start-up bought the right to Daraprim, used to treat a parasitic infection, and then hiked its price from $13.50 to $750 per pill.

Shkreli faces securities-fraud charges in NY unrelated to Turing. Lawmakers instead took turns denouncing his conduct and attitude.

A press release from the office of Representative Elijah Cummings, a ranking member on the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, outlining Mr. Shkreli’s comments can be found here.

“I think at the end of this story he is a hero”, said Ben Brafman, Shkreli’s attorney.

As the questions dragged on, growing ever more pointed and harsh, Shkreli’s fixed smile turned into a kind of incredulous smirk.

After Shkreli’s departure, Turing’s chief commercial officer and the interim CEO of Canada’s largest drugmaker, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, received a bipartisan lashing from the lawmakers. Gowdy pointed out that Shkreli was not indicted for raising the drug prices. And Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., told them: “This is a scandal, an absolute abuse of power, an abuse of the pharmaceutical industry”.

In her earlier opening statement, Retzlaff said, “I believe the decisions made by the company have been appropriate”.

Retzlaff testified that Turing acquired Daraprim because it was “priced far below its market value” and is committed to investing revenue into new treatments. The email from past year, sent to Turing’s chairman, said “Nice work as usual”. Richard Evans, a pharmaceutical analyst for SSR, says that won’t be enough to deter some companies. “People are dying. And they’re getting sicker and sicker”, said Cummings.