Media frenzy ensued when the cost of Daraprim sky-rocketed from $13.50 (£8.79) per pill to $750 (£488) per tablet overnight.
The negative media attention spiralled out of control when Martin Shkreli, CEO of Turing proceeded to give press interviews in an attempt to justify the price hike.
The CEO's insistence that company needed to "turn a profit" and aggressive responses to critics on Twitter only served to inflame the situation and he was quickly dubbed the "most hated man on the internet".
5000% drug price hike: Martin Shkreli is trying to beat off robust competition to being the scum of the year. #greed pic.twitter.com/unZavFfdaQ
— James KM Blake (@BlakeKM) September 21, 2015
Why Martin Shkreli is currently the most hated man on the internet http://t.co/Uce5ahFtVk pic.twitter.com/DQML0Dtldd
— The Independent (@Independent) September 22, 2015
Martin Shkreli looks (and acts) like Smeagol from Lord of the Rings. #martinshkreli @cnbc pic.twitter.com/7pXwi7r9wd
— Michael Beatrice (@MichaelBeatrice) September 22, 2015
Martin Shkreli: public enemy No. 1 in the pharmaceutical wars http://t.co/JnD9YRDqdG pic.twitter.com/88wYY6N1qO
— Financial Times (@FT) September 25, 2015
reddit absolutely hates martin shkreli’s guts pic.twitter.com/7QmNqgBQmD
— ?_? (@MikeIsaac) September 24, 2015
Martin Shkreli is an example of everything that is wrong with capitalism. pic.twitter.com/cPijqL1IkF
— MrOzAtheist (@MrOzAtheist) September 22, 2015
One of his most high-profile critics was Hillary Clinton, who called on him to backtrack on the pricing strategy.
Hillary Clinton calls on @MartinShkreli to lower Daraprim cost to its original price pic.twitter.com/820qoSJNCH
— Liz Kreutz (@ABCLiz) September 28, 2015
Even billionaire businessman Donald Trump couldn't hide his distain for price hike.
"This young guy raised the price to a level that’s absolutely ridiculous, and he looks like a spoiled brat to me," he said at a press conference at the University of South Carolina Koger Centre.
"I thought it was a disgusting thing, what he did. I thought it was a disgrace."
Turing CCO Craig Rothenberg stepped down from his position after less than two months in the role. No reason was given for his departure, but Rothenberg, who had spent 20 years at Johnson & Johnson, told PRWeek that the environment wasn’t right for him.
In an attempt to repair the damage, Turing bowed to pressure to reduce the price of Daraprim, but has yet to reveal how much the drug will cost.
