The Federal Appeals Court banned Martin Shkreli from practicing in the pharmaceutical industry for life and ordered him to pay $64.6 million.
State Attorney General Letitia James said the court upheld a court order that New York, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and six other states previously won against the businessman.
Shkreli, chief executive of Vyera Pharmaceuticals, formerly called Turing Pharmaceuticals, infringed federal and state law by monopolizing Daraprim, a drug that treats toxoplasmosis, a parasitic, life-threatening disease for immunocompromised patients, including those infected with HIV.
In 2015, his company increased the price of the $17.50 drug to $750 per pill, amounting to an over 4,000% price hike. The AG’s office said the drug was in high demand, considering that it was the only FDA-approved drug.
“Vyera — under Shkreli’s control — then engaged in anticompetitive conduct to delay and impede generic competition. The high price and distribution changes Shkreli made limited access to the drug, forcing many patients and physicians to make difficult and risky decisions for the treatment of a life-threatening disease,” said the AG's office.
The AG's office welcomed the appeals court order, which flagged Shkreli's “pattern of past misconduct, the obvious likelihood of its recurrence, and the life-threatening nature of its results.”
