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‘Pharma Bro’ hit with profit order, life ban

Martin Shkreli must return US$64.6 million (NZ$95m) in profits that he and his former company reaped from jacking up the price and monopolising the market for a lifesaving drug, a US federal judge has ruled while also barring the provocative, imprisoned ex-CEO from the pharmaceutical industry for the rest of his life.

US District Judge Denise Cote’s ruling came several weeks after a trial in December that featured recordings of phone conversations that Cote said showed Shkreli continuing to exert control over the company, Vyera Pharmaceuticals, from behind bars, and discussing ways to thwart generic versions of its lucrative drug, Daraprim.

The US Federal Trade Commission and seven states brought the case in 2020 against the man known in the media as ‘‘Pharma Bro’’, about two years after he was sentenced to prison in an unrelated securities fraud scheme.

Shkreli was CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals (later Vyera) when it raised the price of Daraprim from US$13.50 to US$750 per pill after obtaining exclusive rights to the decadesold drug in 2015. It treats a rare parasitic disease that affects pregnant women, cancer patients and HIV-Aids patients.

Shkreli defended the decision as capitalism at work. The move sparked outrage from the medical community and politicians. Shkreli resigned as Turing’s CEO in 2015, a day after he was arrested on securities fraud charges related to two failed hedge funds he ran before getting into the pharmaceutical industry. He was convicted of lying to investors and cheating them out of millions, and is serving a seven-year sentence. He is due to be released in November.

Vyera and its parent company, Phoenixus AG, settled last month, agreeing to provide up to US$40m (NZ$58m) in relief to consumers, and to make Daraprim available to any potential generic competitor.

World

en-nz

2022-01-16T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-16T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/282836489444845

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