Martin Shkreli, the “pharma bro” entrepreneur who astronomically increased the price of a life-saving drug by more than 4,000% and became a symbol of corporate Wall Street greed, cannot return to the pharmaceutical industry, a court has ruled.
A federal appeals court in New York upheld his lifetime ban from the business.
A three-judge panel of the 2nd US circuit court of appeals in Manhattan said a lower court judge acted properly in imposing the ban and ordering Shkreli to repay $64.6m because of his antitrust violations.
The case had been brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), joined by New York, California, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
Shkreli, 40, became notorious and gained the sobriquet “pharma bro” when, as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals in 2015, he raised the price of the newly-acquired antiparasitic drug Daraprim overnight to $750 per tablet from $17.50.
He later served more than four years in prison following his 2017 conviction for defrauding investors in two hedge funds and scheming to defraud investors in another drugmaker.
He was released more than a year early, short of his initial release schedule of September 2023.
In imposing Shkreli’s ban in January 2022, federal judge Denise Cote cited the entrepreneur’s “particularly heartless and coercive” tactics in monopolizing Daraprim and keeping generic rivals off the market.
Daraprim is used to treat toxoplasmosis, including in AIDS patients.
The appeals court rejected Shkreli’s arguments that Cote’s injunction was over broad, and unconstitutionally chilled his free speech by preventing him even from using social media to discuss the pharmaceutical industry.
“Given Shkreli’s pattern of past misconduct, the obvious likelihood of its recurrence, and the life-threatening nature of its results, we are persuaded that the district court’s determination as to the proper scope of the injunction was well within its discretion,” the court said.
Shkreli’s lawyer Kimo Peluso said the sanctions “go well beyond established legal limits,” and a further appeal was possible.
Henry Liu, director of the FTC bureau of competition, said the decision is “a win for consumers seeking affordable, lifesaving medication,” and shows how corporate executives can be personally liable for anticompetitive conduct.
Shkreli works as a software developer and as a law consultant. He originally promoted himself as a genius and a lifesaver and adopted a combative public persona, taking on critics and the media in highly personal spats, and winning publicity for bizarre stunts.
After being convicted, in addition to being banned for life from serving in any capacity in the pharmaceutical industry, Shkreli was also permanently barred from running a public company.
Reuters contributed reporting.
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