Martin Shkreli violated lifetime pharma industry ban, FTC and states say

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NEW YORK, Oct 13 (Reuters) – Martin Shkreli has violated a lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry by trading stocks and discussing his opinions about companies in the industry, federal and state regulators said on Tuesday.

• In a court filing, the Federal Trade Commission and a coalition of seven states asked US District Judge Denise Cote to hold Shkreli in contempt and issue a fine equal to his profits from trading pharmaceutical company stocks since February 4, 2022.

• A lawyer for Shkreli did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

• Shkreli, as the chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, became known as “pharma bro” after raising the price of the anti-parasitic drug Daraprim to $750 per tablet from $17.50 in 2015, and appearing unapologetic when criticized.

• Cote in 2022 found Shkreli liable for violating antitrust laws and imposed the lifetime ban.

• Shkreli was separately sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted in 2017 on fraud charges. He was released in 2022.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

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