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2015/10/12

Who is Martin Shkreli - 'the most hated man in America'? - BBC News

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US & Canada

Who is Martin Shkreli - 'the most hated man in America'?

23 September 2015

US & Canada

Turing Pharmaceuticals boss Martin Shkreli had previously defended the price raise

Judging by social media, Martin Shkreli, the 32-year-old chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, may be the most hated man in

America right now.

He's been called a "morally bankrupt sociopath", a "scumbag" a "garbage monster" and "everything that is wrong with capitalism." And those are

some of the tamer comments.

So how did a rap music-loving, former hedge fund manager suddenly become the target of online ridicule and even death threats?

His company recently acquired the rights to Daraprim. Developed in the 1950s, the drug is the best treatment for a relatively rare parasitic infection

called toxoplasmosis. People with weakened immune systems, such as Aids patients, have come to rely on the drug, which until recently cost about

$13.50 (£8.80) a dose.

But Mr Shkreli announced he was raising the price to $750 a pill. The more than 5,000% increase and his brash defence of the decision has made

him a pariah among patients-rights groups, politicians and hundreds of Twitter users.

Other drugs companies have made similar moves raising the price of niche products, but few have so publicly and so unapologetically answered

critics.

The backlash became so pitched on Tuesday that Mr Shkreli agreed to lower the price of Daraprim to an "affordable level".

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34331761

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2015/10/12

Who is Martin Shkreli - 'the most hated man in America'? - BBC News

Twitter

Martin Shkreli, seen here in an August Twitter post, has aggressively answered critics

Humble beginnings

Martin Shkreli, the son of Albanian and Croatian immigrants, grew up in a working-class community in...