Martin Shkreli, the former hedge fund manager who reportedly has a history of price gouging pharmaceuticals, made a stunning admission that went largely unnoticed.
The nation was enraged this week when Turing Pharmaceuticals bought the rights to a 62-year old lifesaving drug used mostly by AIDS and cancer patients suffering parasitic infections, and raised the price about 5000%.
Daraprim cost $13.50 per pill until CEO Martin Shkreli, a former hedge fund manager, raised the price to $750 per pill.
In an interview this week (video above) a Bloomberg reporter told him, “my understanding was that to actually produce this pill, it costs, what, only a dollar?”
“It costs very little make Daraprim,” Shkreli acknowledged. He then talked about all the other costs that go into the pill, including distribution, and other manufacturing costs, but he also acknowledged those costs “are not up 5000%.”
“We needed to turn a profit on the drug,†Shkreli said. “The companies before us were just giving it away… the price of a course of treatment to save your life was only $1000 and we know, these days, cancer drugs can cost $100,000 or more.â€
Shkreli insists that at $750 per pill Daraprim is still “underpriced relative to its peers.”Â
LOOK: After Outrage Pharmaceutical Exec Now Says He’ll Drop AIDS Drug Price – Won’t Say How Much
Last night, after promising to not change his mind in response to national outrage, Shkreli finally agreed to lower the price, but refused to state how much.
He may not have bowed to pressure from the general public, however.
Hillary Clinton this week, in response to Shkreli raising the price, sent one tweet that tanked pharmaceutical stock prices, and followed up by promising to ensure drug price gouging would never be allowed if she is elected.
And on Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Elijah Cummings sent Turing Pharmaceuticals a letter stating they were opening an investigation into Daraprim’s price.
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