Shkreli ordered to return 64 million dollars and barred from drug industry

A US judge has ordered Martin Shkreli to return 64.6 million US dollars (£47 million) in profits he and his company reaped from inflating the price of a life-saving drug and barred him from participating in the pharmaceutical industry for the rest of his life.

The ruling by US District Judge Denise Cote came several weeks after a seven-day bench trial in December.

The Federal Trade Commission and seven states brought the case in 2020 against the man dubbed in the media as “Pharma Bro”.

Shkreli was CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals — later Vyera — when it jacked up the price of Daraprim. It treats a rare parasitic disease that strikes pregnant women, cancer patients and Aids patients.

He defended the decision as capitalism at work and said insurance and other programmes ensure that people who need Daraprim would ultimately get it.

But the move sparked outrage from medical centres to the 2016 presidential campaign trail, where Hillary Clinton termed it price-gouging and future president Donald Trump called Shkreli “a spoiled brat”.