Appeals court upholds 'pharma bro' Martin Shkreli lifetime ban from drug industry

A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld a lifetime ban on "Pharma bro" Martin Shkreli from working in the pharmaceuticals industry, as well as an order to pay up to $64.6 million in disgorged profits.

The ruling by a three-judge panel on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals came nearly two years after a New York federal judge slapped the ban on Shkreli for the monopolistic behavior of his then-drug company in the distribution of its medication Daraprim.

Shkreli first gained widespread notoriety in 2015 when his company raised the price of that life-saving drug by more than 4,000% overnight.

The Federal Trade Commission and seven states, among them New York and California, had sued Shkreli in the case, which alleged violations of antitrust laws in his company preventing generic drug makers from getting access to Daraprim that they needed to conduct testing on.

The scheme allowed Shkreli and others for more than a year to protect the profits they received from selling Daraprim at a price of $750 per tablet, compared to the $17.50 it previously sold for.

Shkreli previously served a prison term for federal securities fraud and other financial crimes not related to his controversial price hike of Daraprim, which is used to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasitic condition..

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

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.