Drug Company Fires Reviled CEO Martin Shkreli On Heels Of Fraud Arrest

KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, a faltering drug company whose shares skyrocketed last month after the reviled former hedge fund manager Martin Shkreli disclosed a huge stake, has fired him as CEO.

Shkreli resigned as the head of Turing Pharmaceuticals last week, a day after being arrested on securities fraud charges unrelated to his business practices in the pharmaceutical field. Turing, under Shkreli, was widely criticized for buying rights to a relatively cheap, decades-old treatment for a life-threatening infection, then hiking its price by more than 5,000 percent. The price hike severely affected AIDS patients.

KaloBios said Monday in a printed statement that it terminated Shkreli last week. The South San Francisco, California, company has been attempting to develop drugs to treat cancer and leukemia. Its shares tumbled 70 percent in January after its drug for lung infections failed in testing.