Martin Shkreli: Mallinckrodt Will Be Punished

Following a report exposing Martin Shkreli as a whistleblower against Mallinckrodt PLC (NYSE: MNK), Shkreli told Benzinga that the Federal Trade Commission's new lawsuit is just.

“Questcor [Mallinckrodt subsidiary] stopped me from competing with their very high-priced drug which made the Daraprim price increases look modest," Shkreli said, "and it appears they will be punished for what I believed was an illegal maneuver."

Daraprim is the antimalarial drug produced by Turing Pharmaceuticals — Shkreli's former company. The treatment endured media scrutiny in late 2015 after the price spiked 5,000 percent to $750 per dose.

Earlier Wednesday, The New York Post reported the FTC is going to file charges against Mallinckrodt , which maintains a monopoly on lupus and multiple sclerosis treatment and has hiked prices 2,165 percent over the years. The suit is expected to address the product Acthar Gel, which sells for $28,000 per dose. In 2005, the treatment cost $1,235.

In a statement, the company said it entered into settlement agreement staff to fully resolve this matter subject to approval by the commission.

The FTC said Mallinckrodt will pay $100 million to settle commission state charges related to allegations the company maintained monopoly of specialty drugs.

"I'm happy to see that more parts of my business history are being released that demonstrate my commitment to making great pharmaceuticals for rare-disease patients which have few choices," Shkreli said.

Still, he justified the need for high prices.

"Unfortunately these drugs have to be expensive because the very limited number of patients who suffer from these illnesses," he said.

Mallinckrodt closed at $46.53, down 5.9 percent.

Image Credit: By House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons