He’s been nicknamed “Pharma Bro” but in hindsight “Hedge Fund Bro” might have been more appropriate for Martin Shkreli, the convicted felon who became “the most hated man in America” for jacking up the price of a life-saving cancer and HIV/AIDS drug from $13.50 to $750 per pill.
Shkreli, who now resides at the Federal Correctional Complex in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, wants to get out of jail, and is claiming his experience as the head of a biotech firm and a drug manufacturer makes him a great candidate to discover the cure for coronavirus. Shkreli, who holds a B.A. in business administration, is not a scientist, physician, or researcher.
“I have always said that if focused and left in a lab, Martin could help cure cancer,” his attorney, Ben Brafman, said in a statement, Patch reports. “Maybe he can help the scientific community better understand this terrible virus.”
Shkreli says, “I am one of the few executives experienced in ALL aspects of drug development,” and adds, “I do not expect to profit in any way, shape or form from coronavirus-related treatments.”
His attorney reportedly filed papers earlier this month asking for a three-month furlough for his client, but it’s not going well for the 37-year old who was convicted on securities fraud charges.
Federal prosecutors are strongly opposing his release, even if temporary.
Attorneys for the Eastern District of New York call his claim he could cure coronavirus “delusional self-aggrandizing behavior,” Patch adds.
“Shkreli’s ‘belief that he can develop a cure for COVID-19, something that has so far eluded the best medical and scientific minds in the world working around the clock, is not only a practice in wild and completely unfounded speculation, but is indicative of the same kind of delusional self-aggrandizing behavior that underlies the defendant’s conduct,'” prosecutors wrote in a memorandum.