Smirking 'Pharma Bro' Upbraided By Congressman

Pharmaceuticals investor Martin Shkreli - who raised the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000% - has been berated by a US lawmaker for smirking as he appeared before Congress.

Representative Elijah Cummings was lecturing the 32-year-old, telling him that profits made from price-hiked drugs were "blood money".

At Thursday's hearing of the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Shkreli sat at a table with arms crossed and smiled.

The Democratic Maryland lawmaker said: "It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) 's not funny, Mr Shkreli.

"People are dying and they're getting sicker."

The former Turing Pharmaceuticals chief executive invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination at the hearing.

He repeatedly declined to answer questions about the effects of the price hike on patients.

"I intend to follow the advice of my counsel, not yours," he told Representative Trey Gowdy, a South Carolina Republican.

Shkreli was subpoenaed to appear before the committee for a hearing looking at the prescription drug market.

After the brief appearance, Shkreli's lawyer Benjamin Brafman told reporters his client had been laughing because he was nervous and had meant no disrespect.

But Shkreli tweeted afterwards: "Hard to accept that these imbeciles represent the people in our government."

The investor, dubbed Pharma Bro by the media, was charged in December with running his investment funds and companies like a Ponzi scheme.

He has pleaded not guilty.

Shkreli stepped down from Turing and was fired from another company, KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc (Other OTC: KBIOQ - news) .

Since his arrest, his stock-trading account, which was worth $45m, has plummeted in value to $5m, owing to investment losses.

He gained notoriety last year when his start-up bought the right to Daraprim, used to treat a parasitic infection, and then hiked its price from $13.50 to $750 per pill.