Retrophin fired Shkreli past year accusing him of withholding the company’s profitsto repay his hedge fund debts.
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The reason was Martin Shkreli, a 32-year-old former hedge fund manager, whose company bought the rights to Daraprim, Cummings said.
The drug treats a risky parasitic infection found in HIV sufferers, which can be lethal if untreated.
Turing acquired an older antibiotic drug, Daraprim, in August and soon after that raised the price to $750 a pill from $13.50. Experts say there are no regulations that would keep a company from pricing the drug so high. When asked how he manages to sleep at night, Shkreli curtly responded, “you know, ambien”.
Toxoplasmosis primarily affects babies and people with weak immune systems, including AIDS and cancer patients.
The decision sparked controversy and a response from Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who outlined a plan to combat rising drug prices on Tuesday.
But very commonly, as in the case of Daraprim, the price increase is triggered by one company buying another and resetting the prices because they now have a monopoly on the most common treatment for a given disease. Cycloserine, a medication used in treating drug-resistant tuberculosis has increased from $500 to $10,800 for 30 pills.
The increase made Shkreli the symbol of price gouging in the medical industry, the New York Times reports, and drew outrage on social media. Hence, the rise in prices is not fair or justified, they said.
Insurance companies, politicians, advocates for patients and other critics have been blasting those prices as outrageous and unsustainable for the health care system, not to mention patients who sometimes must pay up to 30 percent of the cost.
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In an interview Monday on CNBC, an unapologetic Shkreli said that Daraprim had been priced too low and that his company needed to generate profits that it would spend on new research and development.
