A group of 11th graders in Sydney, Australia have recreated Daraprim, the anti-parasite drug that Martin Shkreli bought and price gouged last September, making him one of the most despised figures in the U.S. The pharmaceutical experiment was the result of a collaboration between Sydney Grammar School, and the University of Sydney’s Open Source Malaria Consortium, which has conducted joint projects with the school for the past two years.

Working for an hour before and after school, the boys involved in the project “shared the outrage of the general public” for what Shkreli did, which helped shape the focus of their work, said the University of Sydney chemist Alice Williamson, who helped the boys remake the life-saving drug.

Last fall, Shkreli attracted the chagrin of many people in the U.S., if not the world, when his company Turing Pharmaceuticals bought Daraprim, and changed the price from $13.50 to $750 per dose. Daraprim is the brand name of the chemical pyrimethamine, which is used to treat HIV and AIDS patients, and protect people with vulnerable immune systems from diseases like malaria and toxoplasmosis. Shkreli responded to the news on Twitter, saying “learning synthesis isn’t innovation,” and “almost any drug can be made at a small scale for a low price.”

Martin Shkreli meets his match in group of Australian schoolboys who recreated lifesaving drug for just $20 a pill https://t.co/QCJjs2cuWN

— CNN (@CNN) December 1, 2016

The young chemists began their mission in February, intermittently posting their results on the Open Source Malaria Consortium, where other researchers could comment on and suggest changes for their work. Last week, the boys finished, and Williamson took their results to a lab at the university to test for authenticity. “They’ve really gone and done it,” Williamson told The Washington Post. “They’ve made a very pure sample of the medicine too, which is a challenge.”

After months of work, the students produced 3.7 grams of pyrimethamine, or about $110,000 worth, according to what Shkreli’s drug costs on the U.S. market. In Australia, patients can purchase 50 tablets of the drug for $12.99. The boys do not plan on bringing their version to the market, however.

“We’re not thinking of starting a business out of this. That’s not the aim,” Williamson said. In addition, because Turing Pharmaceuticals operates through a “closed distribution model” of Daraprim, which restricts its access to patients, doctors, distributors, and pharmacies, the boys’ version could not enter the U.S. market as a generic drug either.

“To take the drug to market as a generic, you need to compare it to Turing’s product. If Turing won’t allow the comparisons to take place, you’d need to fund a whole new trial,” said Open Source Malaria Consortium founder Matthew Todd.

To one of the students, James Wood, the project was not at all about profiting off of their work, or as a personal rebuke to Shkreli. In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, he said: “we really hope this just makes a point about the nature of the pharmaceutical industry and the way drugs are patented and sold for absurdly high prices, when they should be being used to treat life-threatening illnesses.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Martin Shkreli has had a pretty rough, but deserved, few months. He first made national news back in September, when the 32-year-old former hedge fund manager, CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals AG, and CEO of KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced that he was jacking up the price of the HIV drug Daraprim by roughly 5000 percent. Then, he made news again a few weeks ago when he bought the only copy of a legendary Wu-Tang Clan album, despite apparently not intending to listen to it. Another weird story surfaced earlier this week, when Shkreli announced he was going to help Bobby Shmurda, a Brooklyn-based rapper, get out of jail. But now, he’s in the news for a reason that screams poetic justice–he’s been arrested by federal agents on charges of securities fraud.

The charges against Shkreli will likely concern his time at two firms he previously headed, biotech company Retrophin Inc., where he was CEO, and hedge fund MSMB Capital Management, which he managed. Federal prosecutors are accusing him of taking stock from Retrophin. and using it to pay for “unrelated business dealings”–presumably those of MSMB Capital Management. These are not new allegations–he was previously fired from Retrophin for the same thing, and then sued by its board. New York lawyer Evan Greebel was also arrested this morning for conspiring with Shrkeli on the same matters.

The announcement of Shkreli’s arrest was met with mostly jubilee on the internet, given his status as the “most hated man in America.” After he hiked the price of Daraprim, the U.S. pretty much banded together to condemn him; according to the New York Post, it was even bipartisan: “The cocky 32-year-old was condemned by Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, [and] GOP pole-sitter Donald Trump called him a ‘spoiled brat.'” Additionally, Bernie Sanders rejected a $2,700 campaign donation from Shkreli, instead donating it to an HIV clinic.

Shkreli could end up being banned from running a public company, according to Bloomberg Business: “which could put the future of KaloBios into question. Trading in KaloBios shares was halted after the stock fell 53 percent. It’s less clear what the impact could be on Turing, which is privately held.”

There will be a press conference this afternoon from the prosecutors to address the charges being levied against Shkreli, so we’ll have more information then. But for now, let’s all take comfort in the fact that Shkreli seemingly is getting what he deserves.

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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