After a huge public outcry, Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli says he’s backing down from raising the price of an anti-parasite drug 5,000%. The drug is used to treat Toxoplasmosis, a condition that cancer and AIDS patients can be at risk for because of weakened immune systems.
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The outrage following the rise in the prices of Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 overnight has forced Turing Pharmaceuticals, the drug company to reduce the rates, according to BBC News.
“People who are living with HIV, pregnant women, and so a price increase of that magnitude, borne by the most vulnerable people in our country, is absolutely unjustified and unprecedented”, says Lorenz.
One of them, Dr. Nick Bennett, medical director of infectious disease and immunology at Connecticut Children’s Hospital, said Shkreli “does not know what he’s talking about” after examining his statements on the drug’s effectiveness.
The drug has been around for 62 years, but Shkreli’s company bought the rights to it in August. There was no indication of what the new price would be, but it will be lowered based on its decisions that will be prepared over the following few weeks.
“We have agreed to lower the price of Daraprim to a point that is more affordable”, Mr Shkreli said on Tuesday in an interview with ABC World News Tonight.
News of the price increase drew ire not only from the consumers but from politicians as well. The powerful pharmaceutical lobby has repeatedly fended off proposals that would cut into profits, from setting up price controls to allowing Medicare to negotiate discounts on drugs it buys for beneficiaries.
In response to what many call price gauging by the pharmaceutical company, Hillary Clinton announced on Tuesday she would unveil a plan to cap monthly out-of-pocket costs for drugs like Daraprim.
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“I think in the society we live in today it’s easy to want to villainize people”, he said. “It’s a new company and we’re not a profitable company, ‘ he said”. Even earlier this week he was refusing to back down on the price for Daraprim.
