Martin Shkreli steps down as chief of Turing Pharma

Martin Shkreli, the poster boy for prescription-drug price increases who was arrested for securities fraud this week, has stepped down from his post as chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals.

Shkreli was replaced by Turing chairman Ron Tilles, who said the firm was committed to continuing to make its flagship drug Daraprim, which is used to treat an infection called toxoplasmosis in Aids patients.

Shkreli has become a lightning rod for growing outrage over soaring prescription drug prices after the company acquired Daraprim and raised its price to $750 a tablet from $13.50. Turing is the only maker of Daraprim.

Shkreli has been investigated for securities fraud related to hedge fund MSMB Capital Management and biopharmaceutical company Retrophin. He was charged in Brooklyn, New York, on Thursday in a federal indictment.

Federal officials described his crimes as a quasi-Ponzi scheme in which he used money from his company to pay off money-losing investors in his hedge funds.

– (Reuters/NYT service)