Page 7 - Martin Shkreli Teaching Guide
P. 7
Case Rationale
This case study Turing Pharma: Shkreli and Shorting is a
teaching case
The pharmaceutical industry is under pressure to deliver
drugs at affordable prices but some CEO’s prefer to
charge monopoly prices or simply what the market will
bear.
The case study highlights Martin Shkreli and his actions
providing a compelling narrative on the state of US
corporate activity in the pharmaceutical industry. It also
addresses some of the ethical issues behind Shkreli’s
‘profit at all costs’ attitude and his potential manipulation
of financial operations through ‘shorting’ to maintain his
position and managerial control.
Shkreli claimed that his real goal was to invent new drugs
for rare diseases. However, all the evidence points to no
new drugs being produced or undertaken but rather old
drugs being milked by massively inflating their prices
based upon a quasi-monopoly situation. All of this was
done against a background of political, media and
medical profession criticism.
Luck! Shkreli certainly does have his share of it! He and
Elea Capital Management benefited from Lehman falling
