A 32-year old CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals has copped social media backlash after it was revealed he raised the price of an AIDS drug by 4,000 per cent.
Hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli (pictured above) recently brought the rights to the drug Daraprim, which is used to treat toxoplasmosis, an infection that can cause serious complications in people with weakened immune systems, such as AIDS patients, as well as in babies born to women who became infected during pregnancy.
Turing Pharmaceuticals acquired the drug in August for US$55 million, the company then raised the price of the 63 year old drug from US$13.50 to US$750 per pill.
Shkreli claimed the money from the increase would be used to develop better drug treatment for toxoplasmosis with fewer side effects. Shkreli appeared on CNBC to justify the 4,000 per cent increase:
Twitter wasn’t buying what Shreli was selling:
Martin Shkreli gives me major Lou Bloom vibes in both personality and appearance. They even have the same haircut. pic.twitter.com/84k9xzGKGb
— The Toad Warrior (@KendrickLaMario) September 22, 2015
People like #martinshkreli are all that is evil in this world. And he’s still so young. Scary. Let’s do some good bud http://t.co/PF8pAjklMO — Rich MC (@richmcpherson) September 23, 2015
Funnily enough, #TuringPharmaceuticals fails the Turing Test, as it’s abundantly clear that #MartinShkreli is not human.
— Andrew McNair (@melvillean) September 22, 2015
#MartinShkreli, you deserve all the worst in the world. How someone so greedy and evil can exist outside a Bond film is beyond me
— Steven Garelick (@sleevin_steven) September 21, 2015
Martin Shkreli looks (and acts) like Smeagol from Lord of the Rings. #martinshkreli @cnbc pic.twitter.com/7pXwi7r9wd — Michael Beatrice (@MichaelBeatrice) September 22, 2015
#KingOfAllDoucheBags #MartinShkreli I hope he gets a sinus infection and his pharmacy charges him 8.2 million dollars for amoxicillin.
— George Hnasko (@geebee101010) September 21, 2015
Can’t we all just agree that #MartinShkreli has the most punchable face on the internet?
— The Canada Party (@theCanadaParty) September 22, 2015
Move over, @realDonaldTrump . Move over ISIS. @MartinShkreli is actually the worst person in the world. — BaeB-Ocho (@DarthJulesy) September 22, 2015
I hope @MartinShkreli doesn’t buy Maruchen next. I couldn’t justify buying a $1,250 bag of ramen. — Bradley Geiser (@therealbradg) September 22, 2015
I’ve purchased the rights to the world’s orange supply. Oranges are now $10,000 each. Also, turns out you need them to live. #martinshkreli — Andrew Hibbard (@andrewhibbard) September 22, 2015
I see he has made his acct private. I’ll just leave these here. #martinshkreli pic.twitter.com/pNkAxPkvuw — Clinton Maddox (@cbmaddox) September 22, 2015
“I’ve seen more spine in jellyfish and more guts in eleven year old kids.” #martinshkreli pic.twitter.com/x8M1BROhx4
— Calamity Jane (@LetoileSan) September 22, 2015
In response to the twitter backlash, Shkreli told CNBC that the price tag would be dropped in the coming weeks. “Yes it is absolutely a reaction — there were mistakes made with respect to helping people understand why we took this action, I think that it makes sense to lower the price in response to the anger that was felt by people,” Shkreli said, 32.
