Daraprim Price Increase Remains, CEO Shkreli Plans Image Rehab

After Turing Pharmaceuticals announced that they will lower Daraprim's sky-high price, it remains the same. Meanwhile, Turing CEO Martin Shkreli said that he has plans to rehabilitate his image.

Daraprim, the controversial $13.50 drug which had a humongous overnight price hike, was announced to have a lower price two weeks ago. The Business Insider reports that two weeks after Turing CEO Martin Shkreli made that announcement, the price remains the same: $750 per piece.

Shkreli, after receiving much backlash and other responses including one from presidential Hillary Clinton, responded by announcing earlier in September that he will lower the price of the drug.

“We’ve agreed to lower the price of Daraprim to a point that is more affordable and is able to allow the company to make a profit, but a very small profit," Shkreli told ABC news last month.

However, as of now, the Insider says that it still costs the same, with a little bit more when you consider the additional charges that local pharmacies add.

“A 30-day, 30-pill supply of Daraprim would cost me $27,006 at my local pharmacy,” said Lydia Ramsey, from the Business Insider.

“That boils down to about $900 a pill, which includes the wholesale cost, along with specific pharmacy fees based on the zip code I gave the pharmacy.”

The Insider adds that Turing filed a new application for an experimental epilepsy drug.

Drug prices aside, Shkreli, who actively defended the price hike when the issue exploded, now has added plans in mind.

According to Reuters, the 32-year-old boyish-looking CEO plans to rehabilitate his image, and change the people's perception of him and his company.

"Yes, we have a plan. Very expensive, well articulated," Shkreli said in answer to questions regarding his plans to fix his public image, in an interview with Activist Shorts Research founder Adam Kommel, as per Reuters.

"Every media advisor is on our payroll," he added.

Shkreli went under fire for the price hike. Since then he has been interviewed multiple times. Some people even admitted that they went to his twitter page to rant or hate on him, but after watching interviews, turned around and cheered him on.

I would strongly recommend watching @MartinShkreli interview before jumping on the AntiBigPharma wagon

— Aleks7 (@aleks7even) September 21, 2015

@MartinShkreli Like many others, came to your page to hate...but totally see your point after reading the full story. — Rocket to the Stars (@RockettotheSta1) September 21, 2015

"Being true and authentic is important," Shkreli added in the interview. "If you react to how people act to you, you end up being a ghost of yourself, and that's one of the worst things that could happen. I'm not sure it's going to dramatically change the way I act."