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NEW YORK (AP) — Turing Pharmaceuticals, the company formerly led by pharma bad boy Martin Shkreli, says it has cut jobs, "realigned its business priorities" and is looking for a new permanent CEO.
Shkreli resigned Friday, a day after his arrest on charges of securities fraud related to a company he previously ran. He pleaded not guilty and was released on $5 million bail.
He had been reviled for hiking the price of Daraprim by 5,000 percent. It's the only approved drug for toxoplasmosis, a life-threatening parasitic infection that mainly strikes pregnant women, cancer patients and AIDS patients.
A man who on Tuesday answered the number listed on the Turing press release refused to give his name and would not comment on how many people were laid off. An email asking if Turing would cut the price of Daraprim was not immediately answered.
Turing, which is privately held and has offices in New York and Zug, Switzerland, said Tuesday in a release that it was looking for a permanent CEO with experience in the pharma sector and will add new, independent board members. It named Ron Tilles, who has been chairman since Turing was founded late last year, as interim CEO last week.
Tilles has worked with several securities firms, starting with Merrill Lynch in 1985.
Shkreli was also fired from a California drug developer called KaloBios last week.
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