Turing Pharmaceuticals is under fire for raising drug prices

The drug company under fire for raising the price of an AIDS and cancer drug more than 5,000 percent is now facing an antitrust probe.

Schneiderman’s office sent a letter to Turing CEO Martin Shkreli, who has been dubbed the “most-hated man in America” due to the price hike.

When Turing bought the 62-year-old drug Daraprim in August, the company immediately hiked the price of one pill from $13.50 to $750. After bearing the brunt of Internet outrage, he promised to lower the price. What he said didn’t assure us that a change in price would come any time soon. It’s among the most common treatments for life-threatening parasitic infections.

Turing recently pledged to lower the price of Daraprim after protests, but hasn’t done it yet.

Yes it is absolutely a reaction – there were mistakes made with respect to helping people understand why we took this action, I think that it makes sense to lower the price in response to the anger that was felt by people.

Now he tells Business Insider that it will take a “long time” to determine the demand for Daraprim before he is able to settle on a new price, something he apparently neglected to do before he originally spiked the life-saving drug’s price into oblivion. “We have to find a safe price to lower it to”. Shkreli said in the interview.

“There have been hundreds of companies that have raised [their drug prices] higher, and they’re not rolling back their prices, so why should we?”