Life Sciences Symposium Lands Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli for Program Lineup

Life Sciences Symposium Lands Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli for Program Lineup August 17, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

PALO ALTO – Embattled and disgraced former pharmaceutical entrepreneur Martin Shkreli will get a chance to talk about one of his bigger deals—the takeover of California-based KaloBios and the acquisition of a benznidazole program to treat Chagas disease.

Shkreli, along with Steve Hurst, chairman of Savant HWP the company from which KaloBios acquired the drug program, will talk about that deal during a life sciences symposium organized by Dorsey & Whitney set for Sept. 29. The “4D” symposium will focus on the four key “Ds” of the life sciences industry—devices, diagnostics, drugs and digital health.

Shkreli is expected to address how he initially struck the deal to acquire the Chagas drug, what lead to his acquisition of the nearly-shut down KaloBios and perhaps most interestingly, the impact of public scrutiny on the pricing of drugs. Evan Ng, co-head of Dorsey’s Life Sciences and Health Care practice, said in a statement that he was delighted the two men would discuss the deal before the group. The symposium was designed to not only showcase industry leaders, but also create opportunities to connect life science leaders with venture capitalists.

Shkreli is perhaps most well-known for the acquisition of Daraprim, a 65-year-old toxoplasmosis drug, by his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals. Following the $55 million deal, Shkreli hiked the price of the drug by more than 5,000 percent. The drug had been available for about $13.50 per tablet, but the price hike sent the cost to $750 per tablet. Shkreli later said he believes he should have raised the price of the drug even higher in order to please his investors.

Shkreli was later indicted on seven charges of investor fraud in December of 2015. The seven count indictment against Shkreli included multiple charges of securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy. Shkreli is set to go to court in June 2017.

Before the charges, Shkreli and a group of investors acquired KaloBios, which had been on the verge of closing its doors. Under his leadership, the company struck a deal to acquire the benznidazole program for Chagas from Savant Neglected Diseases, LLC, for $2 million in upfront payments. Following his indictment, Shkreli was ousted from KaloBios.

Chagas disease is a parasitic disease transmitted to animals and people by insect bites. Chagas disease is common in South America, Central America and Mexico, but sometimes appears in the United States, according to the Mayo Clinic. Symptoms of Chagas disease include fever, fatigue, rash, aches, swelling of the eyelids, headache, nausea or diarrhea and an enlargement of the liver or spleen. An estimated 300,000 patients in the United States are afflicted with Chagas Disease. Currently, there are only two treatments for Chagas disease available —niffurtimox and benznidazole.

Following Shkreli’s indictment though, the deal fell through and KaloBios was forced to declare bankruptcy. However, earlier this year the company emerged from Chapter 11 with a deal to acquire the Chagas drug.

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