Turing Pharmaceuticals

About Turing Pharmaceuticals

Turing Pharmaceuticals, later rebranded as Vyera Pharmaceuticals for its U.S. operations, was established in February 2015 by Martin Shkreli, a former hedge fund manager with prior experience in the pharmaceutical sector as the founder of Retrophin. Shkreli, who earned a business degree from Baruch College, began his career on Wall Street, co-founding several hedge funds before venturing into the biotechnology industry.

The company's business strategy centered on acquiring manufacturing licenses for out-of-patent drugs with limited competition and subsequently increasing their prices to secure high profit margins, a model that bypasses the lengthy and expensive process of novel drug development. Upon its launch, Turing acquired three drug candidates from Retrophin: an intranasal ketamine formulation for depression, an oxytocin nasal solution, and Vecamyl for hypertension.

A significant milestone occurred in August 2015 when Turing acquired the U.S. marketing rights for Daraprim (pyrimethamine) from Impax Laboratories for $55 million. Daraprim is an essential medication used to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that poses a serious threat to individuals with compromised immune systems, such as those with HIV/AIDS and certain cancer patients. Shortly after the acquisition, Turing controversially raised the price of a single Daraprim tablet from approximately $13.50 to $750, an increase of over 5,000%. This action drew widespread condemnation from the public, medical professionals, and politicians, and positioned the company at the center of a national debate on drug pricing.

In defense of the price hike, Shkreli stated the profits were intended to fund research and development for new treatments for toxoplasmosis. However, the move was widely seen as predatory. In December 2015, Shkreli was arrested on federal securities fraud charges related to his management of his former hedge funds and Retrophin; he subsequently resigned as CEO of Turing. The company was later renamed Vyera Pharmaceuticals in September 2017. Following years of legal battles, including a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over anticompetitive practices, and facing mounting generic competition, Vyera Pharmaceuticals filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2023.