‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli is ordered to return $64M, barred from drug industry
]
NEW YORK — Martin Shkreli must return $64.6 million in profits that he and his former company reaped from raising the price of the lifesaving drug Daraprim, a federal judge ruled Friday, while also barring the provocative, imprisoned ex-CEO from participating in the pharmaceutical industry for the rest of his life.
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote’s ruling came several weeks after a seven-day bench trial in December. The Federal Trade Commission and seven states brought the case in 2020 against the man dubbed “Pharma Bro” in the media.
Shkreli’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shkreli was CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals — later Vyera — when it jacked up the price of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per pill, after obtaining exclusive rights to the decades-old drug in 2015. It treats a rare parasitic disease that strikes pregnant women, cancer patients and AIDS patients.
He defended the decision as capitalism at work and said insurance and other programs ensured that people who need Daraprim would ultimately get it.
But the move sparked outrage from medical centers to Congress to the 2016 presidential campaign trail, where candidate Hillary Clinton termed it price-gouging and future President Donald Trump called Shkreli “a spoiled brat.”
Shkreli eventually offered hospitals half off — still amounting to a 2,500% increase. But patients normally take most of the weekslong treatment after returning home, so they and their insurers still faced the $750-a-pill price.
He resigned as Turing’s CEO in 2015, a day after he was arrested on securities fraud charges related to hedge funds he ran before getting into the pharmaceutical industry. He was convicted and is serving a seven-year prison sentence.
Vyera Pharmaceuticals was sued in federal court in New York by the FTC and seven states: New York, California, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
They alleged that Vyera hiked the price of Daraprim and illegally created “a web of anticompetitive restrictions” to prevent other companies from creating cheaper generic versions by, among other things, blocking their access to a key ingredient for the medication and data the companies would want in order to evaluate the drug’s market potential.
Vyera and its parent company, Phoenixus, settled last month, agreeing to provide up to $40 million in relief over 10 years to consumers and to make Daraprim available to any potential generic competitor at the cost of producing the drug.
Former Vyera CEO Kevin Mulleady agreed to pay $250,000 if he violates the settlement, which bars him from working for a pharmaceutical company for seven years.
Shkreli proceeded to trial.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
U.S. court bars Martin Shkreli from pharma industry, orders $64.6 million payment
]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. court said on Friday that Martin Shkreli, who famously raised the price of Daraprim, would be ordered to pay $64.6 million and would be barred for life from the pharmaceutical industry.
The drug is used to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that threatens people with weakened immune systems.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz)
Alert: Judge orders Martin Shkreli to return $64.6M in drug profits, bars him from pharmaceutical industry for life
]
NEW YORK (AP) — Judge orders Martin Shkreli to return $64.6M in drug profits, bars him from pharmaceutical industry for life.
‘Pharma Bro’ fraudster Martin Shkreli handed lifetime ban from drug industry, ordered to pay US$64.6M in damages
]
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Share this Story: ‘Pharma Bro’ fraudster Martin Shkreli handed lifetime ban from drug industry, ordered to pay US$64.6M in damages
‘Pharma Bro’ fraudster Martin Shkreli handed lifetime ban from drug industry, ordered to pay US$64.6M in damages The judge said Shkreli’s scheme to hike the drug Daraprim’s price overnight to $750 per tablet from $17.50 was ‘particularly heartless and coercive’ Photo by Carlo Allegri/Reuters/File
Article content WASHINGTON — A U.S. judge on Friday barred Martin Shkreli from the pharmaceutical industry for life and ordered him to pay $64.6 million after he famously raised the price of the drug Daraprim and fought to block generic competitors.
Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan ruled after a trial where the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and seven states had accused Shkreli, the founder of Vyera Pharmaceuticals, of using illegal tactics to keep Daraprim rivals out of the market. We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or ‘Pharma Bro’ fraudster Martin Shkreli handed lifetime ban from drug industry, ordered to pay US$64.6M in damages Back to video Shkreli drew notoriety in 2015 after hiking Daraprim’s price overnight to $750 per tablet from $17.50. The drug treats toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that threatens people with weakened immune systems. In a 130-page decision, Cote faulted Shkreli for creating two companies, Vyera and Retrophin Inc, designed to monopolize drugs so he could profit “on the backs” of patients, doctors and distributors. She said the Daraprim scheme was “particularly heartless and coercive,” and a lifetime industry ban was needed because of the “real danger” that Shkreli could become a repeat offender.
Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content “Shkreli’s anticompetitive conduct at the expense of the public health was flagrant and reckless,” the judge wrote. “He is unrepentant. Barring him from the opportunity to repeat that conduct is nothing if not in the interest of justice.” More On This Topic Martin Shkreli caught trying to run his company from behind bars How Martin Shkreli went from ‘spoiled brat’ pharma exec to inmate After the ruling, FTC Chair Lina Khan tweeted the decision, calling it a “just outcome.” Shkreli’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Shkreli is serving a seven-year prison sentence for securities fraud. He did not attend the trial held last month. Vyera was founded in 2014 as Turing Pharmaceuticals, and acquired Daraprim from Impax Laboratories Inc in 2015. Regulators accused Vyera of protecting its dominance of Daraprim by ensuring that generic drugmakers could not obtain samples for cheaper versions, and keeping potential rivals from buying a key ingredient. The seven states joining the FTC case included California, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Share this article in your social network
Latest National Stories Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Montreal Gazette Headline News Sign up to receive daily headline news from the Montreal Gazette, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Email Address There was an error, please provide a valid email address. Sign Up By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don’t see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Montreal Gazette Headline News will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again
Martin ‘Pharma Bro’ Shkreli Barred From Drug Industry: Judge
]
As Seen On
As seen on News 4