Sydney pupils ‘breaking good’

Anti-Aids drug replicated

SYDNEY: Former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli has congratulated a group of Australian pupils who reproduced the active ingredient for a life-saving, anti-parasitic drug at the centre of a drugprice controversy involving his former company.

The pupils from Sydney Grammar School drew global media attention this week after they said they had produced the drug Daraprim for about $2 (R28) a dose, a fraction of the listed price of $750 per dose.

Shkreli is a former chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, where he sparked outrage among patients and US lawmakers for raising the price of Daraprim by more than 5 000 percent.

“These Australian students are proof the 21st century economy will solve problems of human suffering through science and technology.

“We should congratulate these students for their interest in chemistry and I’ll be excited about what is to come in this STEM-focused 21st century,” he said, referring to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Daraprim is used to fight parasitic infections in Aids patients and pregnant women.

The six pupils and their science teacher worked under the guidance of the University of Sydney and members of the Open Source Malaria consor- tium, which allows scientists to share research on anti-malaria drugs.

“We had to repeat a lot of the reactions and try different conditions to see which materials in which things would react to make the Daraprim,” pupil Brandon Lee said.

Turing made front- page headlines after it bought the rights to Daraprim in August 2015.

With no rival manufacturers making the drug, Turing quickly raised the price for a tablet of Daraprim to $750 from $13.50.

Overnight, the tiny company was vilified as an example of pharmaceutical industry greed, drawing fire from polit- icians and medical groups.

Turing later said it would cut the cost of the drug to hospitals.

Lee said the pupils wanted to show that “these compounds which you think are only accessible to these large-scale companies are actually able to be accessed and produced by ordinary citizens”.

Shkreli stepped down as Turing’s chief executive in December 2015 after being indicted on charges that he engaged in a Ponzi-like scheme at a hedge fund and Retrophin, a company he once headed.

He has pleaded not guilty. – Reuters

PICTURE: REUTERS Chemistry student Brandon Lee prepares to make the compound found in an anti-parasitic medicine used to treat malaria, called Daraprim, in the lab at Sydney Grammar School.