A start-up pharmaceutical company has raised the price of a drug commonly use to treat AIDS patients from $13.50 to $750 per tablet, provoking the ire of the entire country and possible the world.
As greedy as that might seem, the firm's founder believes the overnight price surge is not that excessive.
Earlier this week, Turning Pharmaceuticals owned by former American hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli, acquired the license to manufacture the Daraprim drug.
According to the New York Times, this drug is used to treat a parasite infection known as toxoplasmosis. This can develop by consuming contaminated food items and can lead to life-threatening illnesses. It also greatly affects those with weak immune systems like cancer and AIDS patients.
However, after the 32-year-old entrepreneur's company got hold of the manufacturing rights of Daraprim, its price suddenly increased by 5,445 percent. At this rate, the previous average cost for treating patients with this drug has risen from $1,130 to $63,000, CBS News reported.
Almost immediately, Shkreli became the center of attention and has been criticized for preying on the needs of patients with serious illnesses.
According to the executive, since Turing Pharmaceuticals is now the owner of Daraprim, it is his job to ensure the financial stability of the company.
"Because the drug was unprofitable at the former price, so any company selling it would be losing money," he told CBS News. "And at this price it's a reasonable profit. Not excessive at all."
Shkreli also said that Daraprim is rarely used on patients. He then noted that the profits that the company will earn from sales of the drug will be used for research and development purposes. With the proper budget, he said Turing Pharmaceuticals will be able to develop a more effective drug against toxoplasmosis.
"This is a disease where there hasn't been one pharmaceutical company focused on it for 70 years," he told the news outlet. "We're now a company that is dedicated to the treatment and cure of toxoplasmosis."
"And with these new profits we can spend all of that upside on these patients who sorely need a new drug, in my opinion," Shkreli continued.
Despite the executive's explanations, various individuals still believe that the steep price hike is inappropriate. One of them is Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton who tweeted that she will lay out a plan to reverse the actions of Shkreli and Turing Pharmaceuticals.
