Former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli, 32, pushed the price of the drug from $13.50 to $750 overnight, making it out of of reach for many need patients worldwide.
Daraprim - which fights parasitic infection toxoplasmosis and is often prescribed to AIDs sufferers - was bought by Martin’s firm Turing Pharmaceuticals in August, and was quickly boosted in price.
Understandably, the move prompted outrage from many, who questioned how this would affect vulnerable individuals in need of the life-saving treatment.
When asked matter-of-factly by business journalist John Carroll WHY he raised the price of Daraprim, Martin hit back snidely:
‘It’s a great business decision that also benefits all of our stakeholders. I don’t expect the likes of you to process that.’
One user leapt to Carroll’s defence, writing: ‘I guess ‘stakeholders’ don’t include patients,’ while another slammed Martin as being ‘the personification of evil.’
Twitter user Mark Gannek wrote: ‘You’ve got to give Martin Shrkeli some credit for switching from hedge funds to the medical field, where he could hurt people more directly.’
But Shkreli has since claimed that he will ‘guarantee better access at lower prices to patients than ever’ despite charging 5000% more for the drug.
He also claims he will channel the profits into researching more rare and tropical diseases, in the hope that they will find new cures and save more lives.
What a saint.