Shkreli, 32, tried a similar price hike while working at another drug firm

He has since claimed he wants to reduce the price after a public backlash

A pharmaceutical company boss who bought the rights to a drug used in the treatment of HIV and increased the price by 5,000 per cent tried a similar move with a previous employer with kidney pills.

Martin Shkreli, 32, CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals had tried a similar ruse while working for Retrophin. This time he tried int increase the price of Thiola from $1.50 to $30 a pill.

Now the controversial pharmaceutical boss has said he wants to reduce the price of Daraprim, which jumped from $13.50 to $750 but has so far refused to say by how much.

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Villain: Martin Shkreli (above) founder and chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, purchased the rights to Daraprim in August for $55million

Awful: He is now defending his decision to raise the price of Daraprim (above) from $13.50 per tablet to $750 per tablet saying his company 'needed to turn a profit'

The most recent scandal involves Daraprim, which is used to treat parasitic infections.

Shkreli told ABC News: 'We’ve agreed to lower the price of Daraprim to a point that is more affordable and is able to allow the company to make a profit, but a very small profit.'

The company obtained rights to sell the drug, the only U.S.-approved treatment for toxoplasmosis, in August. It hiked the price overnight from $13.50 per pill to $750.

Turing had said it would use profits to improve the drug’s formulation and develop new, better drugs for the infection. It also stressed that some patients can get financial aid from the company to obtain the drug.

But the price hike sparked outrage from medical groups representing doctors who care for patients with HIV and other infectious diseases, because Daraprim treats patients with compromised immune systems.

Hillary Rodham Clinton called Turing’s price hike 'outrageous' in a tweet Monday. While campaigning for the Democratic nomination for president Tuesday, she outlined a broad plan aimed at holding down the cost of prescription drugs.

In one of his interviews, Shkreli was asked to address this drastic increase in price right off the bat.

'Well, it depends on how you define so drastically,' Shkreli told Don Dahler of CBS News.

'Because the drug was unprofitable at the former price, so any company selling it would be losing money. And at this price it's a reasonable profit. Not excessive at all.'

He then said that despite how it looked there were 'a lot of altruistic properties to [ the prince increase.'

Most of these 'altrutistic properties' he seemed to be speaking of involved research.

'This is a disease where there hasn't been one pharmaceutical company focused on it for 70 years. We're now a company that is dedicated to the treatment and cure of toxoplasmosis. And with these new profits we can spend all of that upside on these patients who sorely need a new drug, in my opinion,' he explained.

He later added that while he was of course trying to turn a profit, that as a pharmaceutical company 'our first and primary stakeholders are patients, there's no doubt about that.'

He echoed these same statements in an interview with Bloomberg, also addressing the possibility of a mutation in toxoplasmosis as another reason research was necessary, and therefore more money.

In that interview he also made it clear that the drug would be avilable to all those who need it, and that even if there was a dispute with an insurer the patiuent would be sent their pills while things were being sorted.

He was then asked at one point to address whether or not his price hike might lead to competitors making generic versions of the drug to which he responded; 'Sure, and I think that's a great thing. At the end of the day if you look at diseases like myeloma or multiple sclerosis they've been transformed immensely by profit incentive.

'This drug is from the 1940s. We can make a better drug for this disease.'

He went on to say; 'We're spending tens of millions of dollars to make a better version of Daraprim that is more effective, less toxic.

'Daraprim is a very toxic drug, and these patients deserve a drug company that is turning a profit - a fair proit - and is also developing a drug that is better for them. They don't deserve a drug that is 70- years old. They deserve modern medicine that can cure toxoplasmosis quickly.'

Cash money: Shkreli (above) said the parasitic infection that can cause serious and life-threatening problems which the pill treats could mutate, making research necessary

As for why he has taken an interest in this disease, Shkreli said; 'We know there's a better way to treat this disease. You know, we are developing three or four new kinds of drugs for toxoplasmosis.

'Remember no one has cared about this illness for a long time from the pharmaceutical perspective, if ever. And I think that's a terrible thing if you're suffering from toxoplasmosis.

'Now you have a powerful ally in our company that is looking to make new drugs for you that is looking to spend money and to do that is very expensive.

'They estimate a new drug can cost $1billion to develop. It's only fair that we make a profit and that we put that money back into the patient's hands.

'I know what we're doing is right.'

He closed by pointing out that something could happen where this disease could suddenly cause major problems for almost a quarter of the world's population.

'For infectious diseases, these bugs evolve, they become resistant. In fact, if we still had to focus on penicillin, which is about 70-years-old, we'd be in big trouble today,' explained Shkreli.

'And the reality is that by making a better version of Daraprim - two billion people have this, and in the latent form is totally fine, but if you become immunosuppressed it can kill you.

'And so if this bug evolves it'll be a ticking time bomb and i think we need to prepare now in case the toxoplasma mutates.

'And we know Daraprim, our drug, does not cure you 100% of the time - it's about 80%. And i think we can get that to 100% with research.'

Shortly after his interviews aired, Shkreli announced he was done talking, writing on Twitter; 'Media: sorry, no more interviews. I have a busy and important job. I've said what I needed to and anyone interested can view those pieces.'

He then changed his mind shortly after and revealed he would be appearing on the national news Tuesday night.

Drug companies marking up the cost of medication is a frequent occurrence these days, and it is common to see six-digit prices for drugs used to treat diseases like cancer.

Another tactic used by these companies is increasing the price of older drugs after they acquire them and saying they will use their funds to research new treatments, much like Shkreli says in his interviews.

Previous examples include KV Pharmaceutical Co who upped the price on a preterm labor treatment, Makena, to $1,500 a week from roughly $10, despite it being decades old.

As the drug has been passed from one pharmaceutical company to another, the price has steadily increased from $1 to $13.50of Daraprim, but when Shkreli acquired the drug, he increased the price by almost 5,500 per cent.

Fierce Biotech editor John Carroll was one of the first people to ask Shkreli to explain why he chose to up the price.

In the heated exchange, Shkreli first said that it was 'a great business decision that also benefits all of our stakeholders', but didn't provide further information.

Instead, Shkreli insulted Carroll several times, calling him 'a moron', 'irrelevant', and someone who doesn't 'think logically'.

At one point, Shkreli, when referring to Carroll, said he didn't 'expect the likes of you to process' his explanation for upping the price of Darapram.

Even Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton jumped into criticize the price hike, calling it 'outrageous'.

'Price gouging like this in the specialty drug market is outrageous. Tomorrow I'll lay out a plan to take it on. -H,' she Tweeted on Monday.

Clinton plans to unveil a plan this week to cap monthly out-of-pocket costs for specialty drugs. She alluded to her plan in public remarks on Monday and said she will spell it out in more detail at a health-care forum in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday.

She pointed to a New York Times story that focused on Turing that said while prices sometimes rise due to drug shortages, other times prices balloon as a result of a company's business strategy of buying older drugs and turning them into expensive specialty drugs.

On Monday, shares in biotech companies such as Immunogen and Gilead Sciences dropped after Clinton's Tweet.

Reasons: Shkreli also said that in the end he is helping most people as the parasite lies dormant in almost 25% of the population

In an open letter to Turing, ISDA and HIVMA urged the company to rethink the new new pricing structure for the generic medicine, according to Healio.

'Under the current pricing structure, it is estimated that the annual cost of treatment for toxoplasmosis, for the pyrimethamine component alone, will be $336,000 for patients who weigh less than 60 kg and $634,500 for patients who weigh more than 60 kg,' they wrote.

The letter continued: 'This cost is unjustifiable for the medically vulnerable patient population in need of this medication and unsustainable for the health care system.'

Shkreli said in an interview on Monday that the company would not be lowering Daraprim's price.

Shkeli was raised in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn by immigrant, working class parents from Albania and Croatia, according to Bloomberg Business. He went to Hunter College High school in Manhattan, a secondary school for gifted students, and recently presented his alma mater with a $1million donation. He graduated from Baruch Collge in 2005.

He was a college intern for Jim Cramer, the hedge fund manager and now host of CNBC’s Mad Money. But Cramer, tweeted ‘I just kept hearing all day about some kid who was an intern at my old shop 15 years ago; I don’t even know him. Enough!’

Shkreli was raised in this an apartment in this model building in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn to immigrant parents

Backlash on Twitter has been extreme, with people from across the world calling Shkreli vulgar names and a person who is 'everything wrong' with the United States.

'Martin Shkreli is everything wrong with money, medicine, and politics in America,' Q Allen Brocka wrote, attaching a gif that showed Shkreli telling a reporter that he wouldn't change the drug's price.

'I have dealt with sociopaths in my life. Like @MartinShkreli, theyre good a putting on a mask of charm while engaged in self-centered evil,' Kurt Eichenwald wrote.

'This is Martin Shkreli. He just raised the price of a drug from $13.50 to $750 per tablet. Martin Shkreli is garbage,' Jess Devonport Tweeted, attaching a photo of the pharma CEO.

'Well it's official, @MartinShkreli is the worst person in America. He just raised the price of AIDS medication from $13.50 a tablet to $750,' Stephen Glickman wrote.

'Unless there's some defenders out there (I'm sure there are), I think Martin Shkreli has united every possible group in their hatred of him,' user @firescotch Tweeted.

Shkreli responded to the backlash by Tweeting a link the lyrics to the Eminem song The Way I Am.

'And it seems like the media immediately points a finger at me,' he Tweeted. 'So I point one back at em, but not the index or pinkie.'

He spent much of Monday retweeting messages of support from people who took his side after the price-increase announcement.

He wrote back to some Twitter users, telling some that they 'don't have the facts'.

In an article published on Sunday, Shkreli told The New York Times that his company shouldn't be facing the backlash it is.

'This is still one of the smallest pharmaceutical products in the world,' he said. 'It really doesn't make sense to get any criticism for this.'

Since Shkreli made headlines for the massive price change of Daraprim, media sites have scoured the internet for information about the CEO's past.

His OK Cupid account, which has since been deleted, reveals that he 'started a drug company to find treatments for rare and severe diseases'.

He says on the profile that he couldn't live without cats, music, family, time, hope and good food, adding that he spends a lot of time thinking about 'human suffering'.

He claims on the page to have plenty of spare time and that he's 'excited to build a relationship and share my life with someone'.

Before founding Turing, Shkreli worked as a hedge funder who at one time was accused of trying to manipulate FDA regulations on drug companies whose stocks he was shorting, according to Gawker.

He worked with companies including Cramer, Berkowitz, & Co and Intrepid Capital Management before founding his own hedge fund when he was in his 20s.

He was once publicly scolded by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, after writing writing scathing blog posts about companies he was shorting, accusing them of having problems.

Without success, the group urged the Department of Justice to investigate Shkreli after accusing him of 'spreading unfounded and inaccurate rumors about drugs owned by companies he was shorting'.

He was forced out of the last drug company he founded, Retrophin, which specialized in buying the rights to little-known drugs and increasing their prices.

They increased the price of a drug that treats a rare kidney disease by 2,000 per cent, according to Fusion.

Retrophin forced Shkreli out of the company and is now suing the former hedge funder for $65million, after accusations of looting the company.

According to the lawsuit, Shkreli's former hedge fund, MSMB - another company he founded - was left 'virtually bankrupt' after Shkreli made a single trade with Merril Lynch in February 2011.

Shkreli allegedly used Retrophin's funds to pay MSMB investors who had lost money in the trade, Retrophin's board of directors claims.

'Shkreli was the paradigm faithless servant,' the complaint states. 'Shkreli used his control over Retrophin to enrich himself, and to pay off claims of MSMB investors (who he had defrauded).'

On the day the lawsuit was filed, Shkreli gave a shout out to Wu-Tang Clan in a Tweet, writing, 'I am not the one to f*** with #wutang'.

A spokesperson from Retrophin could not be reached by Daily Mail Online.