X - -> C A merceru.instructure.com/courses/75718/discussion_topics/372515?module_item_id=1342854 O BadBoyofPharmaCase (1).pdf & Download 1 Info X Close Page of 2 - ZOOM + Case Study 2.1 THE BAD BOY OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY Turing Pharmaceutical founder Martin Shkreli is not likely to win a popularity contest anytime soon. Shkreli set off a firestorm of outrage when his company acquired the rights to a 62-year- old drug, Daraprim, and then raised the price of the medication from $13.50 a pill to $750, an (Continued) increase of over 5,000%. HIV patients and women infected during pregnancy (many of them minorities and low income) use the drug to combat a parasite. Turing Pharmaceutical and Shkreli were blasted in social media for price gouging, and protestors picketed the company's headquarters in Manhattan. Some carried signs with a picture of the CEO and the caption "The Face of Greed." Health officials from the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the HIV Medicine Association sent a joint letter to Turing declaring the price increase "unjustifiable for the medically vulnerable patient population." The United States Senate Special Committee on Aging launched an investigation and presidential candidates from both parties condemned the price hike. Turing Pharmaceutical isn't the only company to acquire older drugs and then jack up their prices. Rodelis Therapeutics increased the cost of a bottle of a tuberculosis drug from $500 to $10,800. Mylan raised the price of the Epipen-used for severe allergic reactions-27% a year between 2011 and 2015. Valeant Pharmaceuticals boosted the cost of two heart drugs by hundreds of percent. These price hikes can dramatically increase company profits. Jazz Pharmaceuticals saw revenue from the sleep disorder drug Xyrem increase from $29 million in 2006, when it acquired the medication, to $777.6 million by 2015, based on average price hikes of 29% a year and increased use of the drug. While Turing Pharmaceutical's business strategy isn't unique, thirty-two-year-old Shkreli quickly became the "bad boy" of the pharmaceutical industry.? When criticized, he offered what observers called his "tone-deaf response," which "threw more gasoline on his public relations bonfire." He condemned the Senate investigation, declaring that senators were "trying to make a tempest out of a teacup, and a mountain out of a molehill." He promised a "modest decrease" in the price of Daraprim but didn't specify how much (and later backed off Type here to search ould use the profits from the price hike to W X 76OF ~ () - call's 2:43 PM 4/15/2023X C A merceru.instructure.com/courses/75718/discussion_topics/372515?module_item_id=1342854 BadBoyofPharmaCase (1).pdf & Download 1 Info X Close Page 1 > of 2 - ZOOM + "modest decrease" in the price of Daraprim but didn't specify how much (and later backed off this promise). While he claimed that the company would use the profits from the price hike to develop a better treatment for patients, health care experts disagreed. They wondered why it was necessary to replace an effective, inexpensive drug. Shkreli's behavior on social media did little to burnish his image. Before he made his account private, the CEO's Twitter feed featured trips to Vegas, the World Wrestling Federation, and fantasies of dating super stars. One tweet read, "Taylor Swift, Katy Perry or [Theranos CEO] Elizabeth Holmes. Who would you date if you were me?" Once he came under attack, he proclaimed that he would troll journalists who "smell liberal" and claimed that he had been swamped with support. He used another Twitter message to yell out his frustration at the picture of him being used in the media: "WILL EVERYONE PLEASE STOP USING THAT UGLY PIC OF ME. I HATE BLOOMBERG FOR TAKING IT-THERE ARE SO MANY BETTER ONES." Shkreli was particularly irate with former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who refused a donation from Turing Pharmaceutical. To take revenge, he posted a picture of Sanders riding a unicorn. Shkreli has a troubled history. Before becoming the "bad boy of pharmaceuticals," Shkreli ran hedge funds and Retrophin, another drug firm.' He made millions for himself and his investors but left a trail of lawsuits and accusations in his wake. He had to pay part of a $2.3 million settlement to Lehman Brothers and was sued by two former employees who claimed they didn't get paid. 58 PART I The Shadow Side of Leadership Type here to search W X 76OF call's 2:45 PM 4/15/2023X C A merceru.instructure.com/courses/75718/discussion_topics/372515?module_item_id=1342854 BadBoyofPharmaCase (1).pdf & Download 1 Info X Close Page of 2 - ZOOM + A former hedge fund executive accused Shkreli of taking over his personal e-mail and Facebook accounts and using social media to harass his family. The board of Retrophin sued its former CEO for using company funds to pay investors in his hedge fund, and the federal government charged him for securities and wire fraud for trying to hide his losses. Shkreli offers his own take on his legal problems. For example, he accuses the former executive of stealing $3 million in profits that should have gone to his hedge fund. He describes the Retrophin lawsuit as "a sad attempt to avoid paying a very large severance amount" and brags, "After being kicked out of my own company. I've built a bigger and better one." His attorney declared that Shkreli was confident he would be cleared of the criminal charges. Commenting on Shkreli's troubled track record, one of his earliest investors noted that he seems to operate without a moral compass. (This may be due in part to his rapid rise to riches.) According to the investor, "There's nobody there in Martin's life to tell him what the right thing is."s am w 76OF 2:46 PM Type here to search 799- X 4/15/2023