Martin Shkreli, who was arrested Thursday for securities fraud, resigned from his position as CEO of the drug company that infamously raised prices on a needed, decades-old drug by 5,000 percent.
Turing Pharmaceuticals said Friday that Shkreli, arrested by the FBI on several charges of wire and securities fraud, resigned from the company. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Ron Tillis, the current chairman of Turing’s board.
It is not clear what a new CEO would mean for the price of Daraprim, a drug that has been around since the 1950s and is used to treat a parasitic condition called toxoplasmosis. The drug originally cost $13.50 a pill, but then Turing acquired it in August and raised the price to $750.
“We remain committed to ensuring that all patients have ready and affordable access to Daraprim,” Tillis said Friday.
The massive increase sparked a major backlash against Turing and Shkreli, whose antics on social media stoked public furor. Shkreli recently said during a Forbes healthcare summit that he would have raised the price of Daraprim even further.
But Shkreli’s legal troubles don’t focus on the price increase.
It focuses on Shkreli’s time as a hedge fund manager at MSMB Capital and head of another biotech company called Retrophin. Federal law enforcement officials charge Shkreli with defrauding investors by using assets from Retrophin to pay off angry investors at MSMB.
Shkreli pleaded not guilty and, in a statement late Thursday, denied the allegations.
“It is no coincidence that these charges, the result of investigations which have been languishing for considerable time, have been filed at the same time of Shkreli’s high-profile, controversial and yet unrelated activities,” the statement said.
Shkreli also lashed out at U.S. Attorney Robert Caper’s characterization of the alleged actions as similar to a Ponzi scheme during a press conference Thursday.
“Ponzi victims do not make money, yet Mr. Shkreli’s investors enjoyed strong results,” the statement said.
