SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK ¨C Martin Shkreli, chief executive officer of Turing Pharmaceuticals AG, said he would lower the price of the drug Daraprim after being criticized for boosting it fifty-fold to $750 a pill.
¡°We have agreed to lower the price of Daraprim to a point that is more affordable,¡± Shkreli said Tuesday in an interview with ABC News. He didn¡¯t say what the new price would be.
Turing acquired an older antibiotic drug, Daraprim, in August and soon after that raised the price to $750 a pill from $13.50. Shkreli was criticized by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday, who called the price hike ¡°outrageous¡± on Twitter and responded with a proposal to cap consumer spending on drugs. Clinton¡¯s tweet caused the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index to slide, losing more than $40 billion in market value on Monday.
The top U.S. pharmaceutical lobby, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said earlier Tuesday that New York-based Turing isn¡¯t part of the group and doesn¡¯t represent the values of its member companies. The organization¡¯s CEO, John Castellani, wrote in an e-mail that ¡°we do not embrace either their recent actions or the conduct of their CEO.¡±
Shkreli had defended the price increase for Daraprim, calling it a bargain even at the higher price in an interview Monday. Patients typically take the drug, which treats the parasite-caused disease toxoplasmosis, for at least several weeks, at what Shkreli said was about a $50,000 cost. Some may need it for longer.
Clinton responded to Shkreli¡¯s announcement Tuesday with a single-word tweet: ¡°Good.¡±
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.