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'Pharma Bro' Case: $40M Settlement Announced Over Daraprim Hike; Martin Shkreli Trial To Move Forward

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — California's attorney general has announced a $40 million settlement in the price gouging case against the notorious "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli.

The settlement was against Vyera Pharmaceuticals and parent company Phoenixus.

Shkreli and those pharmaceutical companies were accused in 2015 of buying the rights for the life-saving drug Daraprim, then raising its price by more than 4000% - going from $17.50 a table to $750.

"Overnight, Daraprim went from an affordable and accessible treatment to one that was far out of reach for the people who relied on it," said Attorney General Rob Bonta in a statement. "The selfish choices these defendants made put lives at risk, forcing patients, hospitals, and physicians to make difficult treatment decisions because they lacked access to a potentially life-saving medication."

Shkreli has since been convicted and is now serving a seven-year sentence on securities fraud. However, last year, the Federal Trade Commission also charged him for allegedly restricting competition on Daraprim - allowing Vyera Pharmaceuticals to maintain a monopoly on the drug.

Tuesday's settlement announcement stems from the FTC's charges.

Along with the $40 million settlement, the AG's office says former Vyera CEO Kevin Mulleady will also be banned from working win the pharmaceutical industry for at least seven years.

Shkreli will also still be facing trial in the case. That trial is set to begin on Dec. 14.

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