A pharma CEO just jacked up the price of a 62-year-old drug by $736 a pill, and he's responding to critics on Twitter with Eminem quotes
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."
See photos of Shrekli:
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:
Apart from the edgy Eminem lyrics, Shkreli's other tweets are pretty fantastic, like this killer humblebrag.
And this amazing puppy pic.
Here's some more rap-related tweeting.
Despite his most recent emotion-fueled defensive tweets, the CEO occasionally gets serious. But it also looks like he has some good ideas about the direction pharmaceuticals should go, as far as transparency and new treatments are concerned.
For example, right after Turing acquired the US marketing rights to Daraprim, Shkreli tweeted about the importance of developing drugs to treat neglected tropical diseases.
Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/630722967773777920
Spending a lot of time focusing on rare infections. African trypanosomiasis, schistosomiasis, Chagas. The world needs more treatments.
He also discussed his business strategy for rewarding scientists who develop new treatments for Turing. Shkreli said he will give the scientists a royalty, or payment based on how much of the drug is sold. His tweet claims very few pharmaceutical companies do this.
He then elaborated on what that might look like.
Thanks for the tweets, Shkreli.
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