Bernie Sanders did something amazing with donation from CEO who raised AIDS drug price by 5500%
Democratic Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has rejected a donation from a pharmaceutical CEO who raised the price of an AIDS drug by 5500%, and handed it to an LGBT health clinic.
Martin Shkreli, the 32-year-old founder and chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, came under fire last month after buying the rights to 62-year-old drug Daraprim.
The drug costs less than $1 per tablet to make, and is used to treat conditions including AIDS-related toxoplasmosis.
However, Shkreli last month attempted to dramatically increaser the price of the drug from $13.50 per tablet to $750 – an increase of 5500%.
The entrepreneur had told Stat News that he’d donated $2,700 to the Sanders campaign last month – the maximum possible contribution.
However, if he was expecting it to win him favour with the left-wing Senator, Shkreli will be disappointed.
A spokesperson for the candidate confirmed that Sanders has rejected the money – and given it to the Whitman-Walker health clinic, which provides HIV/AIDS care and lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender care in Washington.
The spokesperson said: “We are not keeping the money from this poster boy for drug company greed.”
Shkreli had fumed previously of Sanders: “I think it’s cheap to use one person’s action as a platform without kind of talking to that person.
“He’ll take my money, but he won’t engage with me for five minutes to understand this issue better.”
