azulmagia
(?)Community Member
Offline
- Posted: Tue, 22 Sep 2015 04:53:46 +0000
Prepare to get REALLY pissed off:
Quote:
A former hedge fund manager has suffered severe backlash after purchasing the rights to a 62-year-old drug used for treating AIDS patients and raising the price overnight from $13.50 per tablet to $750.
Martin Shkreli, 32, founder and chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, purchased the rights to Daraprim - which is used to treat life-threatening parasitic infections - in August for $55million.
Shortly thereafter, the price of the drug, which costs roughly $1 to produce, was increased to $750 per tablet.
Shkreli told Bloomberg that he hiked up the price of the pill because Turing Pharmaceuticals 'needed to turn a profit on the drug'.
Since the announcement, people across social media have criticized the price increase, but Shkreli has backed the decision.
Turing Pharmaceuticals purchased the rights to the drug in August for $55million. Shkreli said that the decision to raise the price was made because the company 'needed to turn a profit on the drug'
'This isn't the greedy drug company trying to gouge patients, it is us trying to stay in business,' Shkreli said, according to Raw Story.
He added that many patients use the drug for less than a year and that the price is on par with drugs similar that are used to treat rare diseases.
Since his company acquired the drug, Shkreli has urged the importance of improving Daraprim and said drugs need to be developed for treating neglected tropical diseases.
Shkreli said that the proceeds from the newly high-priced Daraprim will be used to research better treatments and raise awareness for toxoplasmosis.,an opportunistic parasitic infection that can cause serious and life-threatening problems.
The disease primarily in babies and people with compromised immune systems, including AIDS and cancer patients.
As the drug has been passed from one pharmaceutical company to another, the price has steadily increased from $1 to $13.50. But when Shkreli acquired the drug, he increased the price by almost 5,500 per cent.
Fierce Biotech editor John Carroll was one of the first people to ask Shkreli to explain why he chose to up the price.
In the heated exchange, Shkreli first said that it was 'a great business decision that also benefits all of our stakeholders', but didn't provide further information.
Shkreli received backlash from people on social media over his choice to raise the drug's price, but he responded to the criticism with a link to lyrics to The Way I Am by Eminem, writing that 'it seems like the media immediately points a finger at me'
Instead, Shkreli insulted Carroll several times, calling him 'a moron', 'irrelevant', and someone who doesn't 'think logically'.
At one point, Shkreli, when referring to Carroll, said he didn't 'expect the likes of you to process' his explanation for upping the price of Darapram.
.....
In an open letter to Turing, ISDA and HIVMA urged the company to rethink the new new pricing structure for the generic medicine, according to Healio.
'Under the current pricing structure, it is estimated that the annual cost of treatment for toxoplasmosis, for the pyrimethamine component alone, will be $336,000 for patients who weigh less than 60 kg and $634,500 for patients who weigh more than 60 kg,' they wrote.
The letter continued: 'This cost is unjustifiable for the medically vulnerable patient population in need of this medication and unsustainable for the health care system.'
Shkreli said in an interview on Monday that the company would not be lowering Daraprim's price.
....
Before founding Turing, Shkreli worked as a hedge funder who at one time was accused of trying to manipulate FDA regulations on drug companies whose stocks he was shorting, according to Gawker.
He worked with companies including Cramer, Berkowitz, & Co and Intrepid Capital Management before founding his own hedge fund when he was in his 20s.
He was once publicly scolded by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, after writing writing scathing blog posts about companies he was shorting, accusing them of having problems.
Without success, the group urged the Department of Justice to investigate Shkreli after accusing him of 'spreading unfounded and inaccurate rumors about drugs owned by companies he was shorting'.
Prior to founding Turing Pharmaceuticals, Shkreli worked as a hedge funder who was once accused of trying to manipulate FDA regulations on drug companies whose stocks he was shorting
He was forced out of the last drug company he founded, Retrophin, which specialized in buying the rights to little-known drugs and increasing their prices.
They increased the price of a drug that treats a rare kidney disease by 2,000 per cent, according to Fusion.
Retrophin forced Shkreli out of the company and is now suing the former hedge funder for $65million, after accusations of looting the company.
According to the lawsuit, Shkreli's former hedge fund, MSMB - another company he founded - was left 'virtually bankrupt' after Shkreli made a single trade with Merril Lynch in February 2011.
Shkreli allegedly used Retrophin's funds to pay MSMB investors who had lost money in the trade, Retrophin's board of directors claims.
'Shkreli was the paradigm faithless servant,' the complaint states. 'Shkreli used his control over Retrophin to enrich himself, and to pay off claims of MSMB investors (who he had defrauded).'
On the day the lawsuit was filed, Shkreli gave a shout out to Wu-Tang Clan in a Tweet, writing, 'I am not the one to f*** with #wutang'.
A spokesperson from Retrophin could not be reached by Daily Mail Online.
(link)
Martin Shkreli, 32, founder and chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, purchased the rights to Daraprim - which is used to treat life-threatening parasitic infections - in August for $55million.
Shortly thereafter, the price of the drug, which costs roughly $1 to produce, was increased to $750 per tablet.
Shkreli told Bloomberg that he hiked up the price of the pill because Turing Pharmaceuticals 'needed to turn a profit on the drug'.
Since the announcement, people across social media have criticized the price increase, but Shkreli has backed the decision.
Turing Pharmaceuticals purchased the rights to the drug in August for $55million. Shkreli said that the decision to raise the price was made because the company 'needed to turn a profit on the drug'
'This isn't the greedy drug company trying to gouge patients, it is us trying to stay in business,' Shkreli said, according to Raw Story.
He added that many patients use the drug for less than a year and that the price is on par with drugs similar that are used to treat rare diseases.
Since his company acquired the drug, Shkreli has urged the importance of improving Daraprim and said drugs need to be developed for treating neglected tropical diseases.
Shkreli said that the proceeds from the newly high-priced Daraprim will be used to research better treatments and raise awareness for toxoplasmosis.,an opportunistic parasitic infection that can cause serious and life-threatening problems.
The disease primarily in babies and people with compromised immune systems, including AIDS and cancer patients.
As the drug has been passed from one pharmaceutical company to another, the price has steadily increased from $1 to $13.50. But when Shkreli acquired the drug, he increased the price by almost 5,500 per cent.
Fierce Biotech editor John Carroll was one of the first people to ask Shkreli to explain why he chose to up the price.
In the heated exchange, Shkreli first said that it was 'a great business decision that also benefits all of our stakeholders', but didn't provide further information.
Shkreli received backlash from people on social media over his choice to raise the drug's price, but he responded to the criticism with a link to lyrics to The Way I Am by Eminem, writing that 'it seems like the media immediately points a finger at me'
Instead, Shkreli insulted Carroll several times, calling him 'a moron', 'irrelevant', and someone who doesn't 'think logically'.
At one point, Shkreli, when referring to Carroll, said he didn't 'expect the likes of you to process' his explanation for upping the price of Darapram.
.....
In an open letter to Turing, ISDA and HIVMA urged the company to rethink the new new pricing structure for the generic medicine, according to Healio.
'Under the current pricing structure, it is estimated that the annual cost of treatment for toxoplasmosis, for the pyrimethamine component alone, will be $336,000 for patients who weigh less than 60 kg and $634,500 for patients who weigh more than 60 kg,' they wrote.
The letter continued: 'This cost is unjustifiable for the medically vulnerable patient population in need of this medication and unsustainable for the health care system.'
Shkreli said in an interview on Monday that the company would not be lowering Daraprim's price.
....
Before founding Turing, Shkreli worked as a hedge funder who at one time was accused of trying to manipulate FDA regulations on drug companies whose stocks he was shorting, according to Gawker.
He worked with companies including Cramer, Berkowitz, & Co and Intrepid Capital Management before founding his own hedge fund when he was in his 20s.
He was once publicly scolded by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, after writing writing scathing blog posts about companies he was shorting, accusing them of having problems.
Without success, the group urged the Department of Justice to investigate Shkreli after accusing him of 'spreading unfounded and inaccurate rumors about drugs owned by companies he was shorting'.
Prior to founding Turing Pharmaceuticals, Shkreli worked as a hedge funder who was once accused of trying to manipulate FDA regulations on drug companies whose stocks he was shorting
He was forced out of the last drug company he founded, Retrophin, which specialized in buying the rights to little-known drugs and increasing their prices.
They increased the price of a drug that treats a rare kidney disease by 2,000 per cent, according to Fusion.
Retrophin forced Shkreli out of the company and is now suing the former hedge funder for $65million, after accusations of looting the company.
According to the lawsuit, Shkreli's former hedge fund, MSMB - another company he founded - was left 'virtually bankrupt' after Shkreli made a single trade with Merril Lynch in February 2011.
Shkreli allegedly used Retrophin's funds to pay MSMB investors who had lost money in the trade, Retrophin's board of directors claims.
'Shkreli was the paradigm faithless servant,' the complaint states. 'Shkreli used his control over Retrophin to enrich himself, and to pay off claims of MSMB investors (who he had defrauded).'
On the day the lawsuit was filed, Shkreli gave a shout out to Wu-Tang Clan in a Tweet, writing, 'I am not the one to f*** with #wutang'.
A spokesperson from Retrophin could not be reached by Daily Mail Online.
(link)
