Former Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli, who in the summer of 2015 was briefly elevated to the status of the "world's most hated man", when he became the poster boy for soaring drug prices after he hiked the price of Daraprim more than 50-fold, i.e., he was a capitalist who did everything permitted under the law to boost profit, shortly before Congress "realized" that virtually every other drug company was engaged in similar "price gouging" appeared on Bloomberg TV to discuss not only the ongoing controversy surrounding not just Daraprim pricing, but his outlook for the pharmaceutical industry.
He said that the wave of national outrage that spread in 2015 following tweets by both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, was blown out of proportion due to posturing ahead of the elections, although admitted that he has one regret looking back at his actions: "In terms of regret, maybe not seeing that as acutely would’ve been a minor regret," Shkreli said. “But because the price increase has stuck, so to speak, I don’t really, that’s the main mission which was to raise the price and have it generate increased revenue, that’s happened, so I’m happy with respect to that."
Capitalists around the globe, especially those who are eager to take advantage of perfectly legal loopholes implemented by the government, agree.
Earlier this week, Turing and Shkreli were among those included in a U.S. Senate committee report released this week that called for the government to stop a “monopoly business model” employed by some drugmakers to raise prices on some drugs.
When asked if he would repeat his business strategy, the 33-year-old said, “Of course.” He conceded that he put the drug company he ran at risk with his brash approach. But he also called Daraprim “one insignificant drug” compared to other, larger products. Shkreli said he was frustrated and that “the government in many ways is an apparatus of vengeance.”
He is not wrong: for all the Congressional posturing, so far not one step has been taken to implement price limits or stabilizers. And since the ultimate patsy is the taxpayer, funding Medicare and Medicaid through trillions in debt, nobody has to worry about the bill coming due for years. And the moment the government saw an opening to crack down on an evil price gouger, it took the opportunity and quickly arrested him.
HIs comment on the issue was spot on: “I don’t know if you’re familiar with health-care insurance,” and saying patients don’t feel the brunt of price increases. While drugs make up about 10 percent of overall health-care spending in the U.S., insurers often implement cost-sharing with patients and increase the premiums patients pay in response to long-term rising costs. Ultimately, the price is burried somewhere deep in the bowels of America's $20 trillion debt load, as well as the $100+ trillion in unfunded liabilities.
He also said he’s made many fans in the business world. “Everybody’s doing it. In capitalism you try to get the highest price you can for a product,” he said and mentioned Valeant and Pfizer as other companies who have raised prices recently.
Speaking about his upcoming trial, scheduled for June, Shkreli said he’s looking forward to it. “We’re going to win by a landslide. The evidence is clear that I did nothing wrong.”
As a reminder, riding the wave of populist anger, Federal prosecutors arrested Shkreli last December as scapegoat for "all that is wrong with greede corporate executives", for defrauding investors in the hedge funds, and of using $11 million of Retrophin assets to pay them off. He also allegedly hid his control in the company’s unrestricted stock to help pay off his debts.
During his trial, Shkreli predicted that jurors will see somebody they can relate to, not the figure he claims he’s been portrayed as in interviews. “Invariably, when people read the headline about Martin Shkreli, they hate Martin Shkreli. When they get to know Martin Shkreli, they love Martin Shkreli,” he said.
As Bloomberg notes, during the TV interview, Shkreli brought up the $1 billion federal fraud case against the co-founder and several associates of hedge fund Platinum Partners. The U.S. has accused Platinum of a Ponzi-like scheme. Platinum co-founder Mark Nordlicht pleaded not guilty this week. Shkreli said he had ‘tangoed” with the hedge fund over a trade, before investigators brought the case, and called the investigations and charges an example of what the government should go after.
As Bloomberg put it, "Shkreli is known for his blunt opinions in an industry that often tries to present a unified front. During a congressional hearing on drug prices in February, he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights as a way of refusing to answer questions, then after the hearing called lawmakers “imbeciles” on Twitter."
In an ironic twist, shortly after the Bloomberg TV interview, a seemingly disgruntled Shkreli slammed Bloomberg itself, saying it was a "waste of time going on Bloomberg TV, a channel no one watches. The firm has a very unprofessional staff."
Waste of time going on Bloomberg TV, a channel no one watches. The firm has a very unprofessional staff @BloombergTV @business
— Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) December 23, 2016
His full interview below (link):
http://www.bloomberg.com/api/embed/iframe