View
comments
'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli has been ordered to pay nearly $65million to seven states that sued him for antitrust violations, in a decision that has also banned him for working from any pharmaceutical industry.
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan ruled after a trial where the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and seven states had accused Shkreli, the founder of Vyera Pharmaceuticals, of using illegal tactics to keep Daraprim rivals out of the market.
Now, the seven plaintiff states - New York, California, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia - are entitled to a payout but it's unclear where the money will come from, and what the states will do with it if Shkreli ever pays up.
The states alleged in their case that Vyera hiked the price of Daraprim and illegally created 'a web of anticompetitive restrictions' to prevent other companies from creating cheaper generic versions. Among other things, they alleged, Vyera blocked access to a key ingredient for the medication and to
