(Washington) The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the appeal of Martin Shkreli, once nicknamed “Pharma Bro” after he raised the price of a life-saving drug.
Shkreli is appealing a disgorgement order for $64.6 million in profits he and his former company reaped after monopolizing the drug market and dramatically raising its price. His lawyers argued that the money went to his company rather than to him personally.
U.S. prosecutors, however, said the company agreed as part of a settlement to pay $40 million, and that because Shkreli orchestrated the scheme, he should take responsibility for repaying the profits.
Shkreli was also ordered to have forfeiture Once Upon a Time in Shaolinby Wu-Tang Clan, the previously unreleased work that has been called the rarest musical album in the world. The multi-platinum hip-hop group auctioned off a single copy of the album in 2015 on the condition that it not be used for commercial purposes.
Shkreli was convicted of lying to investors and stealing millions of dollars from two failed hedge funds he ran. Shkreli was chairman and CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals – later Vyera – when the company raised the price of Daraprim from US$13.50 to US$750 per pill after securing exclusive rights to the decades-old drug in 2015 It treats a rare parasitic disease that affects pregnant women, cancer patients and AIDS patients.
He defended the decision as the result of capitalism at work, saying insurance and other programs ensured that people who needed Daraprim would get it. But the decision sparked outrage, from the medical community to Congress.
Shkreli was released from prison in 2022 after serving much of a seven-year sentence.