GREED? In an unbelievable interview with Bloomberg TV this week, the CEO of a pharmaceutical company defends his decision to raise the price of a critical drug in the fight against AIDS and raised the price by 5,500 percent.

Martin Shkreli is the 32 year old founder and Chief Executive Officer of Turning Pharmaceuticals. Their new acquisition is the drug Daraprim, which is the AIDS fighting drug so many people need in order to help their sick infants and victims of AIDS.

Shkreli’s first move at the helm of the new company was to raise the price of Daraprim from $13.50 a pill to $750 a pill. He says the previous owners of the drug were “practically giving it away almost,” and they need to make some money.

Obviously being a former hedge fund manager, Shkreli isn’t interesting not turning a profit, but he feels there is a greater need to increase the price. It gives them more flexibility to create better drugs.

[ADSENSE2]Noting that the pill sold for $13.50 and the course of treatment “to save your life was only a ,000,” Shrkeli said he had to make a change.

“We know, these days, in modern pharmaceuticals, cancer drugs can cost $100,000 or more, whereas these drugs can cost a half of a million dollars,” he explained. “Daraprim is still under-priced relative to its peers.”

Shkreli admitted the cost of making Daraprim is only $1 a pill, but said that isn’t the only cost associated with the business. There are still a lot of things to consider including manufacturing, distribution and FDA cost, which can really eat into a company’s revenues.

Apparently, the goal in raising the price by 5,500 percent is to make a profit, but also reinvest earnings into research and development to make new and better drugs to fight the war on AIDS, according to Shkreli.

Many people in the community think they are just taking advantage of people who have no recourse and must purchase their drugs despite the cost.