Disgraced Pharma Bro Shkreli, post-prison, announces new ‘drug discovery software platform’

27 July 2022

In May, Martin Shkreli, the infamous “Pharma Bro,” was released from federal prison — and he will be living in a Federal Bureau of Prisons halfway house until September 14. Shkreli, post-prison, has announced a new business venture he’s calling Druglike.

In a press release dated Monday, July 25, Shkreli, now 39, described Druglike as a “Web3 drug discovery software platform," saying he launched the company because "traditional drug discovery software is too difficult and expensive to use."

The press release quotes Shkreli as saying, “For the first time, any computer or phone with access to the web might be responsible and rewarded for discovering the next breakthrough medicine. We will disrupt the economics of the drug business by allowing a wide pool of innovators and contributors, rather than only pharmaceutical giants, to profit from drug discovery."

In the press release, Shkreli described Druglike as “a blockchain/Web3 software company,” stressing that it is “not a pharmaceutical company” and is "not engaged in pharmaceutical research or drug development."

In 2015, Shkreli drew widespread criticism for his price-gouging in the pharmaceutical industry. Thanks to Shkreli, the cost of the antiparasitic drug Daraprim went from $13.50 per pill to $750 per pill. Among health care reform activists, Shkreli became the symbol of everything that is dysfunctional about the health care and drug industries in the United States. And his critics labeled him “Pharma Bro.”

It wasn’t Shkreli’s price-gouging, however, that landed him in federal prison, but rather, being found guilty on two accounts of securities fraud. Shkreli, according to prosecutors, lied to investors about the performance of his hedge funds MSMB Capital and MSMB Healthcare — and in 2018, he was sentenced to seven years in federal prison. But he didn’t serve the entire seven years, and he was granted an early release for time served — that is, the six months he spent in custody before being sentenced — and for good behavior in prison.

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