Martin Shkreli steps down as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals

Resignation follows arrest on charges of securities fraud and public outcry.

Read the whole story

 

[strohminator]

DyDx[/url]":1i1t8332]I'm almost 30. I have a PhD and I'm currently working a postdoc at the NIH. I have no power or authority and can barely afford my student loans.

Meanwhile, this greedy dick is 33 years old and has been leading companies and managing hedge funds since at least his mid-20s. In addition to being a criminal, he was an incompetent hedge fund manager. Yet he kept getting high level positions with authority to handle millions of dollars.

What's wrong with this picture? Do these Wall Street assholes really expect us to believe that guys like this got their power and money by being oh so brilliant and talented? What a sham. The financial sector is a boys club of preppy jock assholes who do whatever the hell they please in the name of greed. It's a disgusting scam and I'm sick of it. They're doing irreparable harm to the country. UGH.

And at 30, Alexander the Great had conquered the known world. You chose to get an advanced degree; he chose to murder his father and expand his empire.

 

[Alan H.]

If one reads the actual filing, it is obvious this investigation has been going on for some 8-10 years.

 

[Coriolanus]

strohminator[/url]":1r9xvgtn]

DyDx[/url]":1r9xvgtn]I'm almost 30. I have a PhD and I'm currently working a postdoc at the NIH. I have no power or authority and can barely afford my student loans.

Meanwhile, this greedy dick is 33 years old and has been leading companies and managing hedge funds since at least his mid-20s. In addition to being a criminal, he was an incompetent hedge fund manager. Yet he kept getting high level positions with authority to handle millions of dollars.

What's wrong with this picture? Do these Wall Street assholes really expect us to believe that guys like this got their power and money by being oh so brilliant and talented? What a sham. The financial sector is a boys club of preppy jock assholes who do whatever the hell they please in the name of greed. It's a disgusting scam and I'm sick of it. They're doing irreparable harm to the country. UGH.

And at 30, Alexander the Great had conquered the known world. You chose to get an advanced degree; he chose to murder his father and expand his empire.

Alexander didn't kill his father.

And, for that matter, Alexander wasn't even close to conquering the known world. He conquered the Greek city states, the Balkans, parts of the Middle East, Egypt and a swath of land that stretched to India.

There was a shit ton of land in Asia and Western Europe that Alexander never came close to touching.

 

[truth serum]

Alan H.[/url]":355n0rj7]If one reads the actual filing, it is obvious this investigation has been going on for some 8-10 years.

It's been said that the investigation has been going on since at least January 2015. That was BEFORE his infamous drug price hike.

 

[Davebo]

DrigJ[/url]"meujuwh]What do you think the odds are that the interim CEO will lower the price of Daraprim since he's gone now?

Depends - will they utilize a human with a soul?

 

[Hinton]

DyDx[/url]":1qmvymxw]I'm almost 30. I have a PhD and I'm currently working a postdoc at the NIH. I have no power or authority and can barely afford my student loans.

Yes, that should be you.

 

[Callias]

Coriolanus[/url]":2yl8o18p]
Like Retrophin, the whole strategy behind Turing Pharmaceuticals is to take an older and relatively unprofitable drug that is also essential with no good alternatives, and then jack up the prices.

Turing paid something on the scale of $40 million to Impax (the previous manufacturer of Daraprim) for the rights to manufacturer Daraprim AND restrict the supply of Daraprim so generics manufacturers can't formulate a generic. That's $40 million of investor (specifically venture capital) money.

They're not going be able to justify the cost to their investors if they opt to lower the prices significantly. Their investors were looking for a quick profit. Their investors don't want to wait 5 or 6 years for a small profit. They wanted a quick buck.

Sad but very likely. The one thing I don't like about working in the FDA and pharma/device space is this constant "Can we boost revenue by streamlining costs but avoid public sickness/death" - it's just a gross conversation to hear senior executives have. I understand they need to maximize shareholder returns, and limit their liability, and limit the risks to the public (us) from products that oftentimes keep people alive, treat diseases, etc. (e.g., are not wants so much as needs). And yet, it seems like there is this propensity think in short-term, 3-month quarters while drug or device development and testing can take years.

Sometimes I wish the shareholder interests could be interpreted more easily as "over the long haul" rather than "right now." That'd make it easier from a leaning out costs while still ensuring public health, safety and regulatory compliance. Now there is just a constant tension ... that sometimes doesn't make anyone look good.

 

[eric123]

DyDx[/url]":2s9zjoqi]I'm almost 30. I have a PhD and I'm currently working a postdoc at the NIH. I have no power or authority and can barely afford my student loans.

Meanwhile, this greedy dick is 33 years old and has been leading companies and managing hedge funds since at least his mid-20s. In addition to being a criminal, he was an incompetent hedge fund manager. Yet he kept getting high level positions with authority to handle millions of dollars.

What's wrong with this picture? Do these Wall Street assholes really expect us to believe that guys like this got their power and money by being oh so brilliant and talented? What a sham. The financial sector is a boys club of preppy jock assholes who do whatever the hell they please in the name of greed. It's a disgusting scam and I'm sick of it. They're doing irreparable harm to the country. UGH.

he figured how to get money out of people. thats basically the job qualification for the financial world.

in the the end i've learned to it's a mistake to qualify life values/education to money.

 

[Forensics Person]

Martin Shkreli is not alone in this mess, Evan Greebel, Retrophin's outside counsel has also been charged with wire fraud conspiracy by the FBI.

FBI Notice

Edit: Add link.

 

[core_dump]

DyDx[/url]":8vhciwg2]I'm almost 30. I have a PhD and I'm currently working a postdoc at the NIH. I have no power or authority and can barely afford my student loans.

Meanwhile, this greedy dick is 33 years old and has been leading companies and managing hedge funds since at least his mid-20s. In addition to being a criminal, he was an incompetent hedge fund manager. Yet he kept getting high level positions with authority to handle millions of dollars.

What's wrong with this picture? Do these Wall Street assholes really expect us to believe that guys like this got their power and money by being oh so brilliant and talented? What a sham. The financial sector is a boys club of preppy jock assholes who do whatever the hell they please in the name of greed. It's a disgusting scam and I'm sick of it. They're doing irreparable harm to the country. UGH.

He is a sociopath. A sociopath will do brazen things since they do not think about consequences to someone else or themselves, i.e. Ponzi scheme. You my fiend, happen to be smart, educated and above all free. Unlike this POS.

 

[Nekojin]

Reading over his Wiki page, I can't stop laughing. He tried to buy his way into League of Legends pro gaming by buying one of the top teams. When they refused, he made his own team, hired some pro-level players, and then got the team eliminated in the first round of qualifiers. :facepalm:

And then, as if that wasn't enough, he went on and bought another team...

 

[SyntheticKnowledge]

 

[dogwitch]

cost him 5 million of his own money to bail himself out. extra karma their!!

 

[ajmas]

Xelas[/url]":3fw21rwz]So, if he resigns voluntarily, he forfeits some of the golden parachute? Is that the idea?

From my experience, people with officer level titles are generally asked to resign.

I am not sure the general reasoning behind this, but I suspect reasons include reduced cost to the company, face saving and the person in a high enough position to be treated as a gentleman - oh, and it probably avoids potentially for jeopardizing all future employment for that person.

 

[macd2point0]

It's nice to see a photo of Shkreli without that damn smirk.

 

[seerauber]

The schadenfreude is sweet. Worth pointing out that Ken White has relevant thoughts over at Popehat:

https://popehat.com/2015/12/17/an-open- ... id-ingram/

 

[Justin Credible]

Mr. Ron Tilles, will step in as interim chief executive. Tilles has been held the chairmanship of Turing’s board since the company was founded late last year, and he is expected to continue in that position. In the company’s statement, Tilles said he’s excited by the chance to guide Turing and that the company is “committed to ensuring that all patients have ready and affordable access to Daraprim”–a life-saving drug that Shkreli also recently raised the price on dramatically after his company acquired the U.S. rights to it.

bolded part and my take...so long as it doesn`t affect our immense profits.

 

[Roy Hashimoto]

Nekojin[/url]":a17otgct]

truth serum[/url]":a17otgct]I just hope he doesn't get any money from the inevitable book or movie that is coming about this whole mess.

There are laws against criminals profiting in this manner. If he's convicted, he can't make a dime for biographies about it.

The federal "Son of Sam" statute only applies for crimes of espionage or physical harm to a person. I'm not sure if state law (presumably New York) could be enforced on a federal conviction.

 

[greatn]

dogwitch[/url]":yudgoozj]cost him 5 million of his own money to bail himself out. extra karma their!!

That's just a bond. He gets it back as long as he doesn't flee the country, even if he goes to jail.

 

[JLewPE]

DyDx[/url]":2dmj26d3]What's wrong with this picture? Do these Wall Street assholes really expect us to believe that guys like this got their power and money by being oh so brilliant and talented? What a sham. The financial sector is a boys club of preppy jock assholes who do whatever the hell they please in the name of greed. It's a disgusting scam and I'm sick of it. They're doing irreparable harm to the country. UGH.

I spent a pretty penny to get an MBA and I'm with ya buddy. They don't give a fuck, just keep making them money. And you'll get promoted, as long as you keep making money. Even if you burn the place down trying to make them money. Assholes like Jack Welch are lionized, but most of his "management" style was just ego and fluff. When you work in the corporate sector long enough, you realize the bosses aren't really running the ship, just trying to keep it from crashing.

 

[gaurav_s]

AH! fairy tale endings in real world.. justice prevails!

 

[WildGunman]

McDeath[/url]":129rz8c9]<nelsonvoice>Haha!</nelsonvoice>

My browser doesn't support that tag. Is it HTML5?

 

[pitmonster]

I suspect this may be a repost, but : http://newsthump.com/2015/12/18/martin- ... -to-15000/

 

[slugabed]

DyDx[/url]":1uoa1yzp]I'm almost 30. I have a PhD and I'm currently working a postdoc at the NIH. I have no power or authority and can barely afford my student loans.

Meanwhile, this greedy dick is 33 years old and has been leading companies and managing hedge funds since at least his mid-20s. In addition to being a criminal, he was an incompetent hedge fund manager. Yet he kept getting high level positions with authority to handle millions of dollars.

What's wrong with this picture? Do these Wall Street assholes really expect us to believe that guys like this got their power and money by being oh so brilliant and talented? What a sham. The financial sector is a boys club of preppy jock assholes who do whatever the hell they please in the name of greed. It's a disgusting scam and I'm sick of it. They're doing irreparable harm to the country. UGH.

Glad somebody was able to sum it up in a nice tidy bundle. Well said. Them PhD's is smart.

Just so people know, the managers of a hedge fund typically command (and get) as compensation what's known as the "2 and 20". That's 2% of fund assets and 20% of fund profits - ANNUALLY. Run a $500M dollar fund? Been doing nothing other than tracking the S&P 500 index over the past six years? Congratulations, by simply sitting back and watching the economy grow, you've been able to suck well over $200M in value out of your investor's pockets. You must be a genius. Or at least, you probably think of yourself as one, because you're rich.

Even better, this compensation is not classified as ordinary income (as in, the salaries that we normals collect), so you won't pay income tax on it. It's classified as investment gains, so you pay the long-term capital gains rate on it. So your tax burden is about half of what it would be otherwise. Because rich people and politicians.

All this is just in case you don't hate this jackass enough.

 

[FictionalDave]

Modern Major General Thanatos[/url]":33w9xkke]

DrigJ[/url]":33w9xkke]What do you think the odds are that the interim CEO will lower the price of Daraprim since he's gone now?

Highly likely. This CEO was more sociopath than most... an interim will likely do so at the very least to repair a damaged image.

If the Board of Directors was interested in repairing the image of their company they would've demanded Shkreli's resignation long before this. They had the power to remove him as CEO at any time.

 

[phoenix_rizzen]

Modern Major General Thanatos[/url]":1sc428q9]

DrigJ[/url]":1sc428q9]What do you think the odds are that the interim CEO will lower the price of Daraprim since he's gone now?

Highly likely. This CEO was more sociopath than most... an interim will likely do so at the very least to repair a damaged image.

I don't know. The Interim CEO is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and signed off on the price hike.

 

[LeftCoastRusty]

I LOVE the Turing statement that wishes Shkreli good luck in his "future endeavors".

Gee, I wonder what those endeavors might be? "We LOVE you in that orange suit Martin."

 

[Bmoe]

JLewPE[/url]":18hw94ij]

DyDx[/url]":18hw94ij]What's wrong with this picture? Do these Wall Street assholes really expect us to believe that guys like this got their power and money by being oh so brilliant and talented? What a sham. The financial sector is a boys club of preppy jock assholes who do whatever the hell they please in the name of greed. It's a disgusting scam and I'm sick of it. They're doing irreparable harm to the country. UGH.

I spent a pretty penny to get an MBA and I'm with ya buddy. They don't give a fuck, just keep making them money. And you'll get promoted, as long as you keep making money. Even if you burn the place down trying to make them money. Assholes like Jack Welch are lionized, but most of his "management" style was just ego and fluff. When you work in the corporate sector long enough, you realize the bosses aren't really running the ship, just trying to keep it from crashing.

Or they're doing everything they can to make it crash while everyone below them tries to stop them.

 

[mchumm3r]

Martin Shkreli's arrest is just the start. You can bet they're running the shredders overtime. He's probably going to try to turn State's evidence in exchange a lesser conviction. To be able to move the money off the books others had to be involved. This whole company may turn out to be just a front. The odds are that the Feds already turned someone else in his inner circle. His whole empire might end up being seized and dissolved by the Feds to pay back the investors who were defrauded - maybe ten cents on the dollar? It's a prisoner's dilemma for the Board and other corporate officers . Who's talking to the Feds?

Curtain going up on Act 2 soon....

 

[Veritas super omens]

Classic corporate sociopath activity, fortunately not smart enough to get away with it. That comes with believing your own PR.

 

[rwxatc]

DyDx[/url]":384lqbyb]I'm almost 30. I have a PhD and I'm currently working a postdoc at the NIH. I have no power or authority and can barely afford my student loans.

Meanwhile, this greedy dick is 33 years old and has been leading companies and managing hedge funds since at least his mid-20s. In addition to being a criminal, he was an incompetent hedge fund manager. Yet he kept getting high level positions with authority to handle millions of dollars.

What's wrong with this picture? Do these Wall Street assholes really expect us to believe that guys like this got their power and money by being oh so brilliant and talented? What a sham. The financial sector is a boys club of preppy jock assholes who do whatever the hell they please in the name of greed. It's a disgusting scam and I'm sick of it. They're doing irreparable harm to the country. UGH.

That and the brylcream and popped collars.

 

[Rookie_MIB]

DyDx[/url]":zohah9s0]I'm almost 30. I have a PhD and I'm currently working a postdoc at the NIH. I have no power or authority and can barely afford my student loans.

Meanwhile, this greedy dick is 33 years old and has been leading companies and managing hedge funds since at least his mid-20s. In addition to being a criminal, he was an incompetent hedge fund manager. Yet he kept getting high level positions with authority to handle millions of dollars.

What's wrong with this picture? Do these Wall Street assholes really expect us to believe that guys like this got their power and money by being oh so brilliant and talented? What a sham. The financial sector is a boys club of preppy jock assholes who do whatever the hell they please in the name of greed. It's a disgusting scam and I'm sick of it. They're doing irreparable harm to the country. UGH.

You have something he does not. Integrity.

But - before worrying about how he's part of the 'boys club' and such, you should read all the articles on this guy. He doesn't have money really. If you look at his companies, they're all based on his only apparent ability - the ability to LIE.

Anyone can start a hedge fund. File some paperwork. Then go around to some friends and get them to invest. But then you have to invest wisely, and that's something he couldn't even do. His trades for his first fund drove it into insolvency, but he kept on lying and deceiving investors. Meanwhile, he started another one, scammed investors into investing in it - all the while lying about his current accomplishments. That one failed too. His third one actually did ok, but he was still on the hook for the first two and those investors.

So he compounded the lying by falsifying information. More lying. This guy only has money through his lies, and those lies are about to become public record, and that money he has? Pffft. There won't be any left by the time he has to repay investors and pay fines and lawyer fees.

If you're jealous of this guy, don't be. Everything he 'has' is a sham. It always has been for him and he knows no other way to operate.

 

[Oak]

Unfortunately, this doesn't solve the wider problem. His was just the most visible, smug face of the phenomenon. Turing will continue, and there are others like Valeant, Ovation, Questcor, etc.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/18/busin ... cover.html

The "invisible hand of the market" clearly doesn't work in this situation, where there's enormous initial investment required to start becoming a manufacturer for a specialty drug. No competitor will invest the millions to get started on manufacturing an equivalent, when they know that the moment they have FDA approval to sell it, Turing/Valeant/etc. can drop the price to rock bottom, so that the newcomer is just stuck with a loss.

I don't know enough to speculate as to whether the FDA certification process for generics can be streamlined somehow, but if not, perhaps price controls are needed (not to mention, regulatory blocking of mergers/acquisitions that eliminate competing manufacturers) . Clearly, something systemic needs to be done.

 

[tooltalk]

Coriolanus[/url]":3qqehmk7]

DrigJ[/url]":3qqehmk7]What do you think the odds are that the interim CEO will lower the price of Daraprim since he's gone now?

I doubt they would lower it by much.

Like Retrophin, the whole strategy behind Turing Pharmaceuticals is to take an older and relatively unprofitable drug that is also essential with no good alternatives, and then jack up the prices.

Turing paid something on the scale of $40 million to Impax (the previous manufacturer of Daraprim) for the rights to manufacturer Daraprim AND restrict the supply of Daraprim so generics manufacturers can't formulate a generic. That's $40 million of investor (specifically venture capital) money.

They're not going be able to justify the cost to their investors if they opt to lower the prices significantly. Their investors were looking for a quick profit. Their investors don't want to wait 5 or 6 years for a small profit. They wanted a quick buck.

Daraprim or equivalent does exist outside the US, doesn't it? so why can't we just import them? Why doesn't the FDA allow patients to import drugs that have been around over six decades and certified by different drug authorities elsewhere?

 

[Zak]

EasyTiger[/url]":2b4rv7zm]The guy's just a kid, how did he even get to this position?

By being sociopathic dick with no scruples. This type does well in business and politics.

 

[wangstramedeous]

Honestly its the schadenfreude in here that is disappointing. He's just one guy in a system who didn't get there and do what he did without a lot of people nodding along. Truth is its the result of the process that people are upset about but instead he happens to be the face of it at this moment. The recent events aren't even connected to his actions as CEO but securities fraud.

 

[Acert93]

DrigJ[/url]":jjlycy8x]What do you think the odds are that the interim CEO will lower the price of Daraprim since he's gone now?

Why would they?

I am not trying to be crude, rude, or insensitive but the CEO has a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders. If the market can support the crazy $750-per-pill price then why reduce it? Especially if the can simply model the price:volume profit models and can see by cutting it to a lower price nets a lower profit.

As long as the pricing model, price point, etc. are legal ("ethically legal") then I would think it would be "fiduciarily unethical" for the CEO not maximize profits.

Which is the grind because the price gouging issue with Turing (and other companies, this isn't an isolated incident) because from a moral-ethical position it is obvious that when a treatment, especially an older one where a company has easily recouped investment, production, and made a profit to move onto new products, that costs dollars (maybe even cents) that to create a barrier between supply and demand (need) for nothing more than personal gain is wrong. (And of course when insurers or government aid to the patient is involved there becomes the issue of inflating general care which has a system wide domino effect.)

But if we change the model to widgets, and I can make a widget for $1 and sell it for $750 and the market will buy 1 million widgets regardless of the price then you sell it for $750-per-widget, not $2-per-widget.

And most would agree that this is reasonable free market approach and would also agree that the CEO has a responsibility to the shareholders to do so. I can see exceptions (an altruistic sole proprietor, a small company using a product as a trojan to get a foot print in an industry, etc.) where there may be reasons not to maximize the return on a product but left in isolation I don't see how a CEO can justify selling a product valued at $750/ea. @ 1mm units selling the same goods for $1/ea. @ 1mm units. That is irresponsible.

Just thinking out loud but I don't see a reason for Turing to lower the cost (in isolation). Backlash, competition, or illwill damaging the company may motivate such and we may see just that. But I cannot see the CEO driving the cost down to less than $20/ea. even if they can be profitable at that price point. If they can get $300/ea. and the entire fuss goes away the new CEO will have a hard time explaining a $100 price point, let alone $20.

So unless the model/legal ethics of pharma changes I don't see why we should expect a big price drop. Especially as their putz of a former CEO has established the product as value and a viable (short term?) business model at $750. And for Turing selling at $750 for 1 year is probably much better than $20 for 20 years.

 

[cbum]

The worst part is that our system has no tools to prevent this from recurring over and over.

 

[tkioz]

Karma bitch. Karma.

 

[kilkenny_cat]

Callias[/url]":225td6h4]

Coriolanus[/url]":225td6h4]
Like Retrophin, the whole strategy behind Turing Pharmaceuticals is to take an older and relatively unprofitable drug that is also essential with no good alternatives, and then jack up the prices.

Turing paid something on the scale of $40 million to Impax (the previous manufacturer of Daraprim) for the rights to manufacturer Daraprim AND restrict the supply of Daraprim so generics manufacturers can't formulate a generic. That's $40 million of investor (specifically venture capital) money.

They're not going be able to justify the cost to their investors if they opt to lower the prices significantly. Their investors were looking for a quick profit. Their investors don't want to wait 5 or 6 years for a small profit. They wanted a quick buck.

Sad but very likely. The one thing I don't like about working in the FDA and pharma/device space is this constant "Can we boost revenue by streamlining costs but avoid public sickness/death" - it's just a gross conversation to hear senior executives have. I understand they need to maximize shareholder returns, and limit their liability, and limit the risks to the public (us) from products that oftentimes keep people alive, treat diseases, etc. (e.g., are not wants so much as needs). And yet, it seems like there is this propensity think in short-term, 3-month quarters while drug or device development and testing can take years.

Sometimes I wish the shareholder interests could be interpreted more easily as "over the long haul" rather than "right now." That'd make it easier from a leaning out costs while still ensuring public health, safety and regulatory compliance. Now there is just a constant tension ... that sometimes doesn't make anyone look good.

You missed the elephant in the room. Only the US, New Zealand and Brazil allow the advertising of pharmaceuticals on TV and Radio. The US pharmaceuticals industry paid $4.5 BILLION last year for that privilege - the biggest chunk going to the advertising of proprietary prescription medication at peak viewing times ( network national news, etc ). Eliminate that outlay or reduce it considerably frees up all that money for new drug research. Of course, Congressional 'lobbying' (er, bribery) will ensure that any such proposal will meet an untimely death... mostly at the hands of Congressional members with 'big pharma' benefactors... How many of the founders of the USA are spinning like tops in their graves? 'For the people' means nothing today in our so-called democracy corrupted by self-seeking egos and monetary greed.

At least the AMA has finally taken a stand on the subject:-

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/news/ne ... ising.page