On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission along with seven states urged a federal judge to find Martin Shkreli in contempt, saying he "flagrantly and repeatedly violated" a 2022 civil order that permanently excluded him from the pharmaceutical business.
The 2022 order came after the court determined Shkreli orchestrated a plan that was anti-competitive to preserve his company's monopoly on the anti-parasitic medicine Daraprim. The court said he boosted the price from $17.50 a tablet to $750 per pill. Beyond the permanent industry bar, the judge required him to disgorge more than $64 million.
The civil case sits apart from Shkreli's criminal saga: Separate from the civil matter, Shkreli's criminal history includes a 2017 conviction for securities fraud related to hedge funds he operated and a different drug company he started; in 2018 he received a seven-year federal prison sentence, and in 2022 he was released with credit for time served and other factors. "After a full trial, the court found that Martin Shkreli's conduct drove up prescription drug costs for American patients and blocked the entry of lower-cost generics," Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, said on Tuesday.
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The contempt request asks the court to force Shkreli to sell any pharma stocks he still owns and to "pay a fine equal to his profits from any pharmaceutical company stock trading (plus prejudgment interest) without the ability to account for offsetting losses." It also asks the court to impose "clear and escalating consequences for any future violations, including financial penalties and potential incarceration."
"A lifetime industry ban is only effective if breaches are met with consequences commensurate with the seriousness of the order," FTC Commissioner Mark Meador said.
If the court orders divestment and profit clawbacks with interest, you could see shifts in who holds certain drug stocks and how they trade around enforcement headlines. More broadly, it is a reminder that regulatory actions can influence pricing power, management stability, and the risk profile of companies you might already own.
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