Federal regulators are seeking to hold Martin Shkreli in contempt of court, accusing the controversial former pharmaceutical executive of repeatedly violating a lifetime ban on participating in the drug industry.
The Federal Trade Commission, joined by seven states, filed a motion Tuesday alleging that Shkreli has continued trading pharmaceutical stocks and publicly commenting on drug companies despite a 2022 federal court injunction prohibiting him from involvement in the industry.
According to the FTC's filing, Shkreli has publicly traded shares in at least 60 pharmaceutical companies since leaving prison in May 2022. Regulators also contend that his social media activity, including livestreams discussing biotech investments and individual companies, amounts to additional violations of the court order.
The dispute stems from Shkreli's involvement with Vyera Pharmaceuticals, formerly Turing Pharmaceuticals, which acquired the rights to Daraprim, a medication used to treat toxoplasmosis, and subsequently increased its price from $17.50 to $750 per tablet. In 2022, a federal judge in Manhattan found that Shkreli had orchestrated an anticompetitive scheme designed to prevent generic competitors from entering the market, allowing the company to maintain its monopoly pricing. The ruling imposed a lifetime pharmaceutical industry ban and ordered Shkreli to pay more than $64 million.
The injunction prohibited Shkreli from directly or indirectly participating in the pharmaceutical industry, including acquiring ownership interests in pharmaceutical companies or attempting to influence their management or business operations.
Regulators now argue that his stock trading and public commentary crossed
