LSIPR 50 2016: Martin Shkreli and Jim Tananbaum

Name: Martin Shkreli

Organisation: Formerly of Turing Pharmaceuticals

Position: Former chief executive

Martin Shkreli, formerly chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, shot to notoriety last year when his company took over the manufacturing rights to the drug Daraprim (pyrimethamine), used to treat diseases including malaria.

Turing promptly raised the drug’s price by astronomic proportions, from $13.50 to $750 per dose, and Shkreli became public enemy number one.

The drug is on the World Health Organization’s essential medicines list because it treats toxoplasmosis, an infection that is dangerous to pregnant women, people with compromised immune systems, and the elderly.