Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli increases price of AIDS drug overnight

HE is a former hedge fund manager and entrepreneur who, at just 32 years of age, now runs his own drug company.

He is also currently one of the most hated people on social media.

Meet Martin Shkreli, chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals which recently bought a 62-year-old drug used by AIDS patients then raised its price by 4000 per cent overnight.

The reason?

Because it was a “great business decision”.

For the past week Mr Shkreli has been public enemy number one after several HIV/AIDS advocacy groups began questioning the justification for the price hike.

The drug, Daraprim, is used to treat life-threatening parasitic infections in babies born to women who become infected during pregnancy as well as those with a compromised immune system.

Turing bought the rights to the drug, which is said to cost around $1 to produce, in August for $55 million and immediately raised its price. It was $25.20 (AU) but is now $1051 (AU).

(Initially it was reported the price had increased by 5000 per cent but theThe Washington Post reported the company said the pill is actually $25.20 a tablet not $13.50 and therefore the increase was 4,100 per cent.)

According to the New York Times, this is not the first time Mr Shkreli has done this.

Four years ago he started another pharma company, Retrophin, which also bought old drugs then jacked up their prices.

Last year, Retrophin’s board fired Mr Shkreli and last month filed a complaint in Federal District Court in Manhattan, accusing him of using Retrophin as a personal piggy bank to pay back angry investors in his hedge fund, theNew York Timesreported.

Mr Shkreli has denied the accusations and has reportedly filed for arbitration against his old company, which he claimed owes him at least $25 million.

“They are sort of concocting this wild and crazy and unlikely story to swindle me out of the money,” he told the paper.

But when a journalist asked the touring CEO why he increased the price of Daraprim on Twitter, Shkreli launched into a tirade calling Fierce Biotech editor John Carroll of “moron” and a “bad journalist”.