Martin Shkreli is continuing to run his pharmaceutical company from prison via a contraband smartphone, according to a new report.

Shkreli, who was once labelled the most hated man in America after he raised the price of the life-saving AIDS drug Daraprim from $13.50 (£10) a pill to $750 (£574) a pill, was sentenced to seven years prison in 2017 for securities fraud and conspiracy.

Despite remaining in federal prison, the Wall Street Journal reports Shkreli is continuing to run drug company Phoenixus AG, which he believes will grow to be worth $3.7bn (£2.8bn) by the time he is released.

Most recently, Shkreli has reportedly dealt with the upper management of Phoenixus AG, firing CEO Kevin Mulleady, before reinstating him under a suspension, the WSJ reports.

In addition to managing the drug company, of which he owns 40 per cent, Shkreli has also managed to keep his social media accounts and blog updated during his prison time.

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Shkreli’s latest blog post, a critical review of a journal publication, was uploaded to Medium on 5 March.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, federal inmates are prohibited from possessing cell phones, and such an offence can result in imprisonment of up to one year and a fine, CNN reports.

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