Martin Shkreli (2nd R), CEO of Turing Pharmaceutical, is brought out of 26 Federal Plaza by law enforcement officials after being arrested for securities fraud on December 17, 2015 in New York City.
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He denied wrongdoing Thursday after he was arrested and then freed on a $5 million bond.
The charges against Shkreli, the 32-year-old pharmaceutical entrepreneur, center around his stint running the hedge fund MSMB Capital Management and pharmaceutics company Retrophin.
Turing Pharmaceuticals Friday announced the resignation of Martin Shkreli from the position of CEO, and the appointment of Ron Tilles to the position of Interim CEO at the pharmaceutical company.
The criminal indictment handed up in Brooklyn, New York accused Evan Greebel, 42, a New York lawyer who served as Retrophin’s outside counsel, of aiding the alleged scheme.
“The drug was unprofitable at the former price, so any company selling it would be losing money”, Shkreli said in his defense, to CBS News.
He later posted on his Twitter account: “Glad to be home”.
The intrigue surrounding the fate of album only heightened in the hours after the Federal Bureau of Investigation led Shkreli through a very public perp walk through Manhattan on Thursday. The charges were related to Shkreli’s time managing two hedge funds he founded and Retrophin, a biotechnology firm he started in 2011 and was ousted from three years later. Pills that cost $13.50 one day cost $750 the next.
“Thanks for your support”, Shkreli told some 800 viewers on the Youtube broadcast.
Mr Shkreli attracted widespread attention this fall after Turing bought the rights and raised the price more than 50-fold for a half-century-old drug that treats a parasitic infection that can be life threatening in HIV patients, pregnant women and others with compromised immune systems.
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The move sparked outrage on the presidential campaign trail, helped prompt a Capitol Hill hearing on drug prices, and turned the Brooklyn-born Shkreli into the new face of corporate greed. Wu Tang Clan’s “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” was a made in 2013, but only a single copy was produced. NASDAQ halted trading on KaloBios Thursday, saying it was waiting for “additional information” from the company on its changing fortunes.
