US drug firm to cut 5000% price rise on Daraprim after outrage

Martin Shkreli, chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals AG, said he would lower the price of the drug Daraprim after being criticized for boosting it 50-fold to $750 a pill. Paul Taggart / BloombergShow more

Martin Shkreli, the Turing Pharmaceuticals chief executive, said he would lower the price of the drug Daraprim after being criticised for boosting its price 5000 per cent to US$750 (Dh2,754) a pill.

“We have agreed to lower the price of Daraprim to a point that is more affordable,” Mr Shkreli said Tuesday in an interview with ABC News. He did not say what the new price would be.

Mr Turing acquired an older antibiotic drug, Daraprim, in August and soon after that raised the price to $750 a pill from $13.50. Mr Shkreli was slammed by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Monday, who called the price hike outrageous on Twitter and responded with a proposal to cap consumer spending on drugs.

Mrs Clinton’s tweet caused the Nasdaq Biotechnology Index to slide, losing more than US$40 billion in market value on Monday.

The top US pharmaceutical lobby, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said earlier Tuesday that New York-based Turing is not part of the group and does not represent the values of its member companies.

The organisation’s chief, John Castellani, wrote in an e-mail that “we do not embrace either their recent actions or the conduct of their CEO”.

Mr Shkreli had defended the price increase for Daraprim, calling it a bargain even at the higher price in an interview Monday. Patients typically take the drug, which treats the parasite-caused disease toxoplasmosis, for at least several weeks, at what Mr Shkreli said was about a $50,000 cost. Some may need it for longer.

Mrs Clinton responded to Shkreli’s announcement Tuesday with a single-word tweet: “Good.”

* Bloomberg News