Loading ...Here’s the guy I confused with the epi pen lady. Martin Shkreli a real scumbag. Hopefully soon to get his comeuppance.
Students recreate Martin Shkreli’s $750 HIV drug for $2
Students in Australia have successfully replicated a drug used in HIV/Aids treatment that was increased from $13.50 to $750 by former hedge fund manager/pharma bro/all-round dickhead Martin Shkreli. On World Aids Day, Shkreli has been completely wrecked by a group of high-school kids.
Students at Sydney Grammar reproduced Daraprim, which is listed in the World Health Organisation’s roster of essential medicines, with support from Open Source Malaria consortium and the University of Sydney. With paid-for equipment, chemicals and existing facilities, year 11 students succeeded in creating the drug across a few weeks.
Postdoctoral teaching fellow Dr Alice Williamson told The Guardian that Shkreli’s acquisition of Daraprim, used against malaria and toxoplasmosis infection for people with HIV, had haunted her. “I couldn’t get this story out of my head, it just seemed so unfair especially since the drug is so cheap to make and had been sold so cheaply for so long,” she said.
“I said, ‘Why don’t we get students to make Daraprim in the lab?’ because to me the route looked pretty simple. I thought if we could show that students could make it in the lab with no real training, we could really show how ridiculous this price-hike was and that there was no way it could be justified.”
The group posted their data in real-time as they navigated patents with “dangerous reagents”, with guidance from Williamson and associate professor Matthew Todd. After a few weeks, students succeeded in creating 3.7 grammes of pyrimethamine, the chemical name for Daraprim, which is worth approximately $110,000 based on Shkreli’s ludicrous pricing.
“Not only have they done it, it’s super-pure. It’s A-grade. I couldn’t believe my eyes. That was the moment. I realised they had nailed it. The students were over the moon,” said Todd.
Shkreli previously told the BBC that “Daraprim is still underpriced, relative to its peers”. Huh.