A man whose pharmaceutical company made huge profits by inflating the price of a life-saving drug has been ordered to return $64.6m (£47m).
Martin Shkreli, imprisoned since, was also banned for life from the pharmaceutical industry.
Shkreli, 38, raised the price of Daraprim by $13.50 to $750 a pill after securing exclusive rights to it in 2015.
The decades-old drug treats a rare parasitic disease that affects pregnant women, people with cancer and AIDS patients.
Shkreli, who was chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals – later Vyera – said it was capitalism at work and that insurance would ensure people who needed Daraprim would get it.
But his behavior sparked outrage. Hillary Clinton described it as a price hike and Donald Trump called Shkreli a “spoiled brat”.
He resigned as chief executive of Turing in 2015 after he was arrested on securities fraud charges related to the hedge funds he ran before entering the pharmaceutical industry.
He was convicted and is serving a seven-year sentence.
Vyera Pharmaceuticals LLC has been sued by the Federal Trade Commission and seven states: New York, California, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
They alleged that in addition to raising the price of Daraprim, Vyera had created “a web of anti-competitive restrictions”.
This, they said, had the effect of preventing other companies from creating cheaper generic versions, in part by blocking their access to a key ingredient.
Shkreli said his actions were labor capitalism
As Shkreli proceeded with the lawsuit, Vyera and its parent company, Phoenixus AG, settled last month, agreeing to provide up to $40 million in 10-year relief to consumers and make Daraprim available to any competitor. potential generic at cost.
Former Vyera chief executive Kevin Mulleady has agreed to pay $250,000 if he violates the rules, which bars him from working for a pharmaceutical company for seven years.
The ruling on Shkreli follows a seven-day trial in New York in December.
