A pharma CEO just jacked up the price of a 62-year-old drug by $736 a pill, and he's responding to c

[anonymous]

Bloomberg TV screenshot



Martin Shkreli, the hedge-fund-manager-turned-pharmaceutical-CEO, is in hot water after raising the price of the anti-parasite medication Daraprim from $13.50 a pill to $750.


Turing, which Shkreli founded in February, bought the US marketing rights to the drug in August. Shkreli told Bloomberg TV he hiked up the prices because his company "need[ed] to turn a profit on the drug."

It's common practice for drug companies to set the prices for their new products. What puts Turing in the spotlight is that this is a vastly different price on a drug that's been around for six decades.

The New York Times reported the news on Sunday, bringing up criticism of the choice to raise the drug's price.

Shortly afterwards, Shkreli tweeted out a line of Eminem lyrics:

 

[anonymous]

This guy is a little weasel. Hedge fund manager says it all. He has no business being in pharma in a decision-making capacity. You cannot treat patients like a commodity. Ever.. No pharma or biotech company would operate this way. I have worked in pharma for years and this guy is an embarassment to the industry.

 

[anonymous]

My biggest "what the heck" with this company is not the price gauging but the people who went there to work with him. They knew what his prior business strategy was at Retrophin and they sure knew what it was moving forward with Turing!

How can anyone in this industry look these "leaders" in the eye and bring them on board to a new company? All of these people from the CEO down to the business development folks thought it was ok to go to a company with this kind of moral, ethical and completely insensitive business strategy. How are these people not BLACKBALLED from the pharma industry? Look them all up on Linkedin!!! Pathetic! I know I will never forget their names.

 

[anonymous]

This guy is extreme, but what have the other pharma/biotechs been doing year after year with drug prices? Express Scripts reported the average specialty drug increased in price by 18% in 2013 and last year by 20-30%. Does that make you angry too???????

 

[anonymous]

They all do it, ... quarter after quarter to make up for the overblown forecasts that are impossible to achieve because people often do not fill their prescriptions becuase they can't afford them. This guy was just that much more arrogant and greedy than the other pharma so-called leaders.

 

[anonymous]

Ahhhhhh! this is also what our friends at mallinckrdot have done as well! Acthar which had a price tag of 28K per vial is now more than 40K for 5 days-making a 12 week course in Rhuematology exceed $200,000.00 and this is just to control symptoms and not to provide a cure. why would they do this you ask? Greed! there's no concern for our patients

 

[anonymous]

Obamacare pays the bill so who cares? Everybody (in the USA) knows (thinks) that all we need to do is print money and everything is cool.

He is just like AZ. Nasonex still sells for $200.00 bottle and Nasocort is $18.00 OTC. If you have a note from your doctor, the US Gubment pays fo yo ass!

 

[anonymous]

I admire this guy. It's about time someone that leads a Pharma company show some tenacity. Too many old men looking weak and telling lies to the people. This guy is young, honest, and hungry. He has the balls and brains to take the Pharma industry and turn it around. No more old guys lying and selling hope.

 

[anonymous]

This guy is a little weasel. Hedge fund manager says it all. He has no business being in pharma in a decision-making capacity. You cannot treat patients like a commodity. Ever.. No pharma or biotech company would operate this way. I have worked in pharma for years and this guy is an embarassment to the industry.