Shkreli resigns as Turing Pharma CEO

Martin Shkreli, the medical entrepreneur widely criticized for ordering large drug price hikes, resigned Friday as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, one day after federal authorities charged him in an unrelated securities fraud scheme.

The privately held company said Ron Tilles, chairman of the biopharmaceutical firm with offices in New York and Switzerland, will serve as interim CEO while retaining his current position.

"We wish to thank Martin for helping us build Turing Pharmaceuticals into the dynamic research focused company it is today, and wish him the best in his future endeavors, Tilles said in a statement issued with the announcement. "At the same time, I am very excited about the opportunity to guide Turing Pharmaceuticals forward."

It was unclear Friday whether Shkreli would also resign from KaloaBios Pharmaceuticals (KBIO), a separate company where he was appointed CEO in November.

Federal prosecutors accused Shkreli, 32, of perpetuating a Ponzi-like scheme on investors in former hedge funds he led, as well as at Retrophin (RTRX), a pharmaceutical company he founded and previously headed. Authorities said Shkreli misappropriated funds, lied about investment returns and conspired to defraud Retrophin by secretly issuing company stock to settle disputes with burned investors.

The criminal indictment handed up in Brooklyn, New York accused Evan Greebel, 42, a New York lawyer who served as Retrophin's outside counsel, of aiding the alleged scheme.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday filed parallel civil charges against Shkreli.

Glad to be home. Thanks for the support. — Martin Shkreli (@MartinShkreli) December 18, 2015

After pleading not guilty at a Thursday arraignment, Shkreli denied all of the allegations and issued a statement saying he expects to be vindicated.

"It is no coincidence that these charges, the result of investigations which have been languishing for considerable time, have been filed at the same time of Shkreli's high-profile, controversial and yet unrelated activities," Shkreli spokesman Craig Stevens said in the statement.

The statement referred to the public furor that erupted this year after Shkreli raised the price of a Turing medication called Daraprim by more than 5000% — from $13.50 a pill to $750. The therapy treats toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease that afflicts people with weakened immune systems, such as individuals suffering from AIDS and pregnant women.

Doctors and other medical industry experts criticized the increase, which also became a topic in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaigns.

Responding to the outcry, Shkreli initially said he would roll back the Daraprim price hike. But he subsequently dropped that plan and repeatedly defended the increase.

Tilles' statement said Turing was "committed to ensuring that all patients have ready and affordable access to Daraprim" and Vecamyl, a Turing drug for treating malignant hypertension, high blood pressure that develops suddenly.

Turing separately pledged that "no patient needing Daraprim will be denied access." The company also issued a letter to health care providers that said Turing's Daraprim Direct program "continues to provide physicians and their patients with multiple assistance options."

However, the Human Rights Campaign, the largest U.S. civil rights group for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, urged Tilles to cut the cost of the Daraprim to its earlier price.

Tilles has served as Turing's chairman since the company's launch in late 2014. He began his career at Merrill Lynch in 1985 and later worked with several other securities firms, Turing said.

A federal lawsuit Retrophin filed against Shkreli in August, following his 2014 ouster by the firm's board, stated that Shkreli allocated Retrophin-related shares to seven "close personal associates," including a Ronald Tilles. It was unclear whether that individual is also Turing's new interim-CEO.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Kevin McCoy on Twitter: @kmccoynyc.