Martin Shkreli: The 'most hated man in America' is raising the price of another form of drug

The news comes just after he raises the price of an effective HIV drug by more than 5000 per cent

(CNBC)

The man who increased the cost of an effective HIV drug by 5,500 per cent has now increased the price of another form of medicine.

Martin Shkreli has now increased the price of a medicine used to treat Chagas disease, a parasitic infection that can cause heart failure.

Mr Shkreli’s company, Turing Pharmacuticals, previously acquired the rights to the anti-HIV drug, Daraprim, before increasing the price from $13.50 to $700.

This time Mr Shkreli has bought a majority share in KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, allowing him to apply for exclusive selling rights to KaloBios’ benznidazole, a common drug used to treat Chigas in South America, where it is very prevelant.

It is reported by the New York Times that benznidazole currently costs between $50 to $100 for two months worth of treatment.

However the New York Times believe that the cost could soon be similar to that of a hepatitis C drug, which costs anywhere between $60,000 and $100,000 per course of treatment.

It is estimated 300,000 in the United States have Chagas disease.

Although the news does come as it is announced that America has suffered an outbreak of the kissing bug, which is one of the major ways Chagas disease is spread.

Many health centres currently offer the anti-Chagas drug for free, with the proposed pricing no longer making treatment available to a vast part of the US and South America’s population.

Mr Shkreli estimates that between 3,000 and 7,000 people will require treatment for the acute infection each year in the United States.

It has also been reported that Mr Shkreli is the owner of the single-copy Wu-Tang Clan album.