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After Getting Shamed For 5000% Hike, ‘Most Hated Man In America’ Will Lower Drug Price

CREDIT: SCREENSHOT
CREDIT: SCREENSHOT

Martin Shkreli, the controversial pharmaceutical CEO and former hedge fund manager, announced that he would reduce the price of the drug Daraprim to “a point that is more affordable.” Shkreli has been the subject of unrelenting criticism since he implemented a 5000% increase in the price of the drug — from $13.50 per pill to $750 — which is used to treat severe infections in AIDS patients and infants.

Shkreli, who talked to ABC News, declined to name the new price for the medicine, which has been on the market for 60 years. ABC described Shkreli as “the most hated man in America.”

While working at a company he founded called Retrophin, Shkreli had implemented a similar price hike on a kidney medicine. The Huffington Post reported that Shkeli “is part of a criminal investigation” involving Retrophin. He owes the company more than a half-million dollars.

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He is also named in a civil suit alleging he harassed a co-worker and his family, according to court documents uncovered by Gawker.

Shkreli also removed his Twitter account, which he has been using to mock his critics, from public view.

Another company, Rodelis Therapeutics, was forced to roll back a 20-fold increase on the price of a tuberculosis drug after public outcry.