A Manhattan federal judge has rejected Martin Shrkeli’s bid to escape an antitrust lawsuit seeking to ban the imprisoned executive from ever working in the pharmaceutical industry, after the price of his company’s lifesaving drug, Daraprim, suddenly spiked more than 4,000 percent in 2015, the National Law Journal reported. U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote of the Southern District of New York said Tuesday there was reason to believe that alleged scheme at Shkreli’s Vyera Pharmaceuticals was still occurring, more than five years after the price of the company’s branded drug increased overnight to $750 per pill. The ruling denied motions by Shkreli and Vyera to dismiss all but one claim in the civil suit, which accused Vyera of stifling competition for the drug. Daraprim is used to treat the parasitic disease toxoplasmosis, an infection that can be fatal for immunocompromised individuals, particularly those with cancer or HIV/AIDS. The lawsuit, filed by the Federal Trade Commission, New York Attorney General Letitia James and six other states, seeks the return of millions of dollars in illegally obtained profits, as well as an order permanently barring Shkreli and his former business partner, Kevin Mulleady, from working in pharmaceuticals.
