Meet Martin Shkreli. The 32-year-old entrepreneur recently left his job as a hedge fund manager to start his own pharmaceutical company, Turing Pharmaceuticals.
Related: Can We Blame Wall Street For All the AIDS Patients Now On Waiting Lists?
One of the first things Shkreli did after launching his company was acquire the rights to Daraprim, a drug used to treat life-threatening parasitic infections in people with compromised immune systems, such as AIDS patients.
Shkreli immediately jacked up the price from $13.50 to $750 a tablet, which is an overnight price increase of nearly 5,500 percent.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
As a result of the increase, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the HIV Medicine Association issued a joint letter to Turing calling the drug’s new price “unjustifiable for the medically vulnerable patient population” and “unsustainable for the health care system.”
Related: Price Gouging Pharma CEO Can’t Seem To Handle The Entire Internet Hating Him After All
Dr. Aberg of Mount Sinai told the New York Times that some hospitals will likely find Daraprim too expensive to stock, resulting in treatment delays.
“This seems to be all profit-driven for somebody,” she said, calling Shkreli’s move “very dangerous.”
But don’t except any apologies from Shkreli. He scoffed as accusations of being greedy or trying to profit off the sick and dying, accusing people of “concocting this wild and crazy and unlikely story to swindle me out of the money.”
“It really doesn’t make sense to get any criticism for this,” he told the New York Times. “This isn’t the greedy drug company trying to gouge patients. It is us trying to stay in business.”
Turing’s price increase could potentially make his company hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Related: Hilary Clinton Calls For “AIDS-Free Generation” In NIH Speech
Sidney Davies
What a douchbag.
Kenneth Myrnes
and you are 5455 percent ASSHOLE!!
Terrance Whitten
Fool has a Facebook page. Leave a message…
Rob Laughlin
Karma is gonna hurt, MFer
Daniel Schlageter
People like this should be dragged into the street and beaten to death.
Alex Rothwell
He’s totally hideous !
Tomoe Hotaru
pharmaceutical companies do this all the time tho. have any of u checked how expensive cancer treatment drugs are?
Edgar Francisco Estrada
Capitalism at it’s best…
Bobby French
He is an asshole. People will die because of what he has done.
Sweetie Pie
I have always believed that we humans are our worst enemy. Animals kill instinctively, because they are hungry, for territory, for survival…we humans screw others for pleasure, just because we can, even when our needs are covered and there is no justification.
As a race we are doomed
Javier Rodriguez
Scumbag, for each dollar you profit a curse on you & yours. You should volunteer and treat the sick you bastard so you can choke on your blood money
William Britton
Here is hoping his death is long and drawn out and the money he makes will not save him. KARMA please…..
Stephen Meeks
How does he sleep at night knowing that he is taking advantage of sick people? I’m not stupid, I know everyone’s out for a profit; that’s fine. But 5,455% increase? That’s just exploitation.
Matthew Boyes
Gross
Glücklich
As someone in finance who doesn’t have a knee-jerk “banks are EVIL” reaction to all Wall Street-type stories, this is too nasty a pill to swallow even for me.
Certainly the FTC and HHS are aware of this and should investigate. Even if they guy isn’t doing anything illegal, the investigation(s) will be a big, painful, expensive hassle.
Daniel Franzese
Horrible human
Jim DelRae
Assholes..
Bam Whitman
Here’s Chief Executive Douchebag’s personal FB…. reach out to him! https://www.facebook.com/martinshkr?fref=ts&hc_location=ufi
Tommy Parlon
Douchbag
Jamie Armour
Can we look the other way as a rival company “accidentally” infringes any copyrights or patents?
Keith F Vario
CNBC is interviewing him now – 13.50 to 750 per pill – outrageous. Sure the interview will uploaded on YouTube in 24 hrs. #weasel
Paul Di Benedetto
That’s disgusting. No conscience.
James Dauria
what goes around comes around-looking forward to that day for this despicable human!
Mauricio A. Perez
Smart kid! ADAP will cover it, no worries.
Gert van Veen
What?!
Gabriel Robbie Montoya
The only way we can fix this is to enact legislation that regulates how pharm companies can price medication… Of course conservatives will cry socialism which it isn’t it capitalism with responsibility
Thomas Laufersweiler
I hope he chokes on the champaign he is toasting
Ken Shepherd
what a fucking asshole-making money off people who need this medicine to live!
Scott Watson
I’m sure he will burn in hell for this one.
John Schwartz
He is a poor excuse for a human!!!
Carrie Lynne
What a nice guy.
Amaurys Arias
Disgusting little man.
Grreg Morse
Why is there no generic version? This medicine was patented in 1982, 33 years ago.
Victor Barry
This is why republicans and rich people are evil.
Billy Budd
Nasty.
Ron Jackson
He’s scum. Karma’s a bitch Martin. You’ll get yours eventually.
Luis H. Lopez
Aids is big money and profitable ! That’s why there is no cure !
David Lloyd
Should be ashamed of himself.
Travis Cooper
I hope he gets a slow, painful, incurable disease.
Faye Denton
Oh, my God ! What some people will do !
Kirk Montrealer
Kick little fuckers tiny balls in. Karma will deal with him.
Tom Hughsted
Also shows you that hedge fund managers are hopeless losers that make way too much money doing nothing but playing with other people’s lives.
Cynthia Gilletti
What a rat!
Cynthia Gilletti
Another reason our drug companies should be nationalized. Sad .
Creamsicle
Wow this is morally reprehensible. As an aside, AIDS patients aren’t the only ones with compromised immune systems, and I’m sure there are a ton of people who need this drug. That means this isn’t just a gay issue, it’s an issue for our entire healthcare system. If this guy gets away with it then others will follow suit.
Kelley Wilson
*Dear God, please kill this man*
Dan Levin
That man is evil. Simple as that. The rights he bought should be revoked.
Henry Kellerman
Well just look at it this way he will now be looking over his shoulder everytime he goes out because he is probably a marked man.
Davis Henderson
Another argument for socialized medicine.
Michael Heathfield
What a jerk! Fine looks like foreign companies will get the business.
Jennifer Mercury
What a disgusting excuse for a human being.
Lawrence Langseth
I hate to say this but AIDS medications have always been about the money from day one!
Doug Feltis
Good grief. This is pyrimethamine, the drug used to cure and prevent malaria! It is listed one of the essential drugs for humans by the world health organization. For that guy, though, suffering from appalling psychological disconnect, it’s just numbers on a screen and money in his pocket, and nothing to do with human suffering or life or death. The sociopathic consequences of modern capitalism.
Rosalynn D'Angela
he needs his head removed , where is an ISIS when you need one
Lawrence Langseth
I hate to say this but AIDS Medications has always been about the money and making a profit off of the sick.
Bob Brat
murder!
Carol Huffman
this guy is a piece of crap
Terri Moore
Ass Wipe
laurent7465
He’ll get his. Insurance companies are not going to pay $273,750 a year (I assume you take one pill a day?) for this med. They will ask the FDA to fast-track a generic or something comparable to this. Then this little dick head will be left with nothing. One can only hope that if he comes down with a terminal illness, that’s it is a VERY slow, VERY painful one, so that he may suffer for years with it and by that time, he will have lost his business and be living on Medicade and food stamps!
Effen douche bag.
Joseph Pasquino
Martin shkreli is a slimmy, disquisting oportunitist pig. I hope kama acts swiftly and harshly.
Dustin Yenny
I hope the government shuts his corrupt ads down and seizes all his assets then does the right thing by pricing the drug accordingly.
Cam
Raise the price of gas .15 cents during a hurricane go to jail, raise the price of a drug that needs zero research 700 times and nothing.
Karen Piercy
Hey Martin Shkreli,you’re an asshole!!!!
Daz Thomas
Dangerous people. This must be stopped.
Dzaman Dzan
He is a mass murderer.
Kevin Harrell
White privilege at its worse!
Kevin Karns
Pig should be put in prison
Keith Perdue
Worth his weight in dogshit in my opinion…a particularly dizzgusting, horrible human being…
chaddyboy6
I mean the guy has the right to make money. He is not running a charity. I expect him to make a profit but come on-that is ridiculous. The man is a jerk.
Gee Rosato
Shoot him in the neck and paralyze his douchebag ass; then raise the price of ventilation machines
Lee Swinney
Rich Assholes
Gil Miller
May he rot in hell when the greedy bastard dies!!!!!!
Eamonn John Maguire
Can someone provide me with his home address please?
Cam
This guy could end up losing his shirt…….
From a Huff Post Article…
“””Bernie Sanders already has introduced legislation in the Senate to crack down on what he called “skyrocketing” increases in prescription drug prices.
On Monday, shares in biotech companies such as Immunogen and Gilead Sciences dropped after Hillary Clinton tweeted that steep prices for specialty drugs were “outrageous.”
“Tomorrow I’ll lay out a plan to take it on,” she said. She pointed to a New York Times story that said while prices sometimes rise due to drug shortages, other times prices balloon as a result of a company’s business strategy of buying older drugs and turning them into expensive specialty drugs.
The newspaper reported how the price of a drug to treat a deadly parasitic infection soared to $750 a tablet from $13.50 after it was bought in August by a pharmaceutical company.
The Nasdaq biotech index skidded 4.6 percent on Monday while the S&P healthcare sector fell 1.35 percent.””””
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-drug-price-gouging_56005074e4b00310edf8020e?utm_hp_ref=politics
Clinton specifically pointed to this guy as a problem..
John Andrew K. Carver
I vote we let 5455 HIV infected men (especially well endowed I should add) rape that SOB.
Sam D. Maloney
Can anyone tell me why a drug that’s been around (according to some articles) for over 60 years isn’t a generic that sells for a few pennies a pill?
jimontp
If we actually had a Justice Department that prosecuted white collar crime, they could charge him with price gouging and take away his outdated patent rights. But this Justice Department just doesn’t get it. No Wall Street CEOs or Hedge Fund managers have gone to jail. If there was ever a scumbag who deserved vigilante justice, this guy is prime candidate number one. Disgusting piece of human trash.
Jackson Kelly
Disgusting!
1898
Why aren’t there multiple other companies manufacturing this drug? It’s been around for decades. Seems strange that only one company is producing it.
Also, it’s not strictly a med for AIDS patients. It treats malaria and toxoplasmosis, which can strike anyone.
Shirley White
He is disgusting! KARMA MAUFUCKER!!!
Octavio Roca
Can’t he die, slowly if possible?
plazaro1
WOW, what a piece of shit.
Don Hanover
disgusting douche bags are a dime a dozen.. he’s not an entrepreneur, he’s a thief.
Earnest Jeffery Wiles
Sad sad news
animaux
He is an Albanian.
Anyway, since this scumbag named his company Turing Pharmaceuticals, I wonder if the Turing estate can sue him.
Calebspapi
This medicine,though very important, is not prescribed as much in the USA as it is around the rest of the world. And, as we have fewer and fewer actual, long term AIDS patients vs those living with HIV, I believe this “man” will get away with this because the effects are not really going to be felt here.
This is the future of American medicine. Privatize and profit.
ggreen
He’s already hired a reputation management firm to troll all tweets and tweet positive only.
Kevin J Desmond
I hope somebody guns him down on the street … fucken asshole !!! ( just my opinion )
John Malin
Put the asshole in prison for crimes against humanity andlet him rot.
Bauhaus
Rapacious twat.
Marshall R. Krug
karma is a real bitch. i hope it works swiftly !
Jane Elliott
what a complete A”’hole he should be put in jail for causing distress and death by making these drugs too expensive to aford
Mitch Sandusky
DarkZephyr
“This isn’t about greed! That is made up by those who want to swindle me out of my money!” Does he not hear himself???
youarekiddingme
@Cam: Yea, but there will be a certain person on this site who will be raising hell about that legislation saying that it’s anti-American. He’ll be saying how the “leftists” are killing this country! Care to guess his initials? Starts with an “A” perhaps? He can’t stand Clinton or Sanders or any of their ideas. Another republican looking to help the rich get even richer!!
The guy that owns this drug company is a disgrace. Trying to make a “buck” huh? No matter how many people he kills in the process!
Douglas Schlitz
I hope he has a good body guard, some one will off this MF !
McShane
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2015-09-21/why-turing-increased-price-of-daraprim-over-500-
Fannie Ann Keener
Maybe he’ll get aids greedy
Finrod
In a sane society, the government would have bought the rights.
This man needs to get intimate with a wood chipper.
Jessie Diaz
people will just be going to Mexico or Canada again. make sure you cost this a$$hole his life savings lets show him money doesn’t always win.
Michael Mikolasek
What a jerk
Dave Russo
SCUM, on a GOOD day!
o.codone
look at these comments ^. rape him, stalk him, seize his assets, the gay community is a bunch of creepy, scary scumbags.
Carlos Manuel Perez
Amerikkka.
Roger Honeycutt
Vulture. Hope he dies.because he has lost all his money and can’t afford medicine
Juanjo
This drug is used to treat toxoplasmosis a parasitical disease which is in roughly 25% of the US population according to the CDC and roughly half the world population according to WHO. Now if you are healthy the parasite is not an issue at all. Your immune system keeps it completely under control. But of you are HIV+, an infant, an old person, a person with some immune system issues like lupus, receiving drug therapy or radiation for cancer or some other reason, or are pregnant, you are at serious risk of dangerous illness and possibly death. Roughly 200,000 case a year. Not bad at 750.00 a day for a series of therapy which depending on your size and level of infection can run up to 8 weeks at one dose a day. A person with HIV+ or an organ transplant has to take a dose a day for life.
Since there is no generic of this medicine licensed in the USA or Europe, you buy it from him. And of course your insurance pays for it. Or the government does. And no matter what he picks your pocket for a drug that has been around for 60+ years and for which he incurred no costs except to buy the patent and distribution rights. Even if you are not ill, your medical premiums go up and your tax money goes to this scum bucket.
Oh and btw this is also the preferred medication for the treatment of acute malaria – 198 million cases of malaria yearly according to WHO. It is also the medication people are supposed to take for a week before traveling to an area where malaria is common as well as while there. How many doses a year there do you think?
John Smilanic
And he thinks it’s not about greed……..
James Kelley
Just looking at his pics tells you he just needs to be shot…
Desert Boy
Hillary Clinton is the only presidential candidate I’m aware of who is talking about doing something about the insidious rise of pharmaceuticals. Whether you have cancer, HIV/AIDS, or Parkinson’s, drug costs are out of control and this little shit is a big part of the problem.
Gary Harryman
We need to re-think some basics: It’s time civilized humans took profit out of all necessities of life.
Ron Brasher
There is a special place in hell for these people!
Chris Keller
500,025,600 minutes
Joey Boyd
I hope they find him dead soon after being beaten to a bloody pulp. He will have earned it.
Blake Mason
This is unbelievable …
Ricky Redick
Well karmas a bitch
Simone Baker
Douche. He should give it away for free. These are real lives were talking, about not imaginary characters in a book.
JessPH
The patent of the drug has already expired. I wish some pharma company manufactures the drug and give this lowlife and his company some good competition.
Cam
@JessPH: Some company will apply for it, this guy will sue, and will tie it up in court for 10 years.
Giancarlo85
This is the problem in this country. In Europe, this guy would be facing jail time. In this country, white collar criminals are in the pockets of politicians, so expect nothing to happen.
Kangol
Karma can’t pay this greedy MF enema-face Martin Shkreli back harsh enough!
David P. Neff
This is why we need Bernie and Medicare for all. Don’t worry buddy karma is going to find you eventually
Rian Pelger
he is now under investigation for fraud i read this morning.
Jason Nelke
It’s not a AIDS drug. It’s a drug to treat toxoplasmosis, an infection caused by a parasite. Is also used to prevent other kinds of infections. Often used by AIDS patients but also cancer patients and a host of other things. While I get that what this company is doing is completely criminal, don’t play on people’s emotions towards AIDS, there’s plenty of other ill people who have had or have to be on this. Play on that fact that this is extorting all kinds of people with a myriad of diseases.
ewildin
This is unconscionable!! I can’t believe that the world doesn’t have checks and balances in place to prevent this kind of idiocy from occurring! I think it would do the world good for this guy to be stoned to death! Like , literally stoned to death. Basically what he is doing is murdering 100’s of innocent people. How is this legal anywhere?!?!?
Tobi
It costs 66¢ per tab in the UK.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34320413
NateOcean
You can’t cure the disease this many has, so hopefully he’ll catch somethign else. Something painful with a long steady decline.