Martin Shkreli being escorted by law-enforcement agents in New York on Thursday after being taken into custody following a securities investigation. AP Images Martin Shkreli has resigned as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, according to a company statement on Friday.

On Thursday morning, Shkreli was arrested on charges of securities fraud, to which he pleaded not guilty.

"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," Turing chairman Ron Tilles said in the statement.

Tilles will now serve as interim CEO.

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that Shkreli was planning to step down and was undecided whether his replacement would be temporary or permanent.

At Turing, which launched in February, Shkreli acquired the US rights to Daraprim, a 62-year-old anti-parasitic drug, whose price he then raised by 5,000%. Thursday's arrest was not related to the significant price hike. At the time of Turing's statement, Shkreli remained the CEO of KaloBios, a public biopharmaceutical company he joined last month.

A statement following shortly after the announcement of Tilles as CEO reaffirmed Daraprim's pricing plans will remain the same. Last month, Turing announced a plan to reduce the cost of Daraprim as much as 50% for hospitals administering the drug, but did not change the wholesale price of $750 per pill.

Turing also took a stab at a compounding pharmaceutical company that plans to make a version of the active ingredient in Daraprim as a $1 per pill substitute. The company making the compounded drug, Imprimis Pharmaceuticals, recently struck deals with a pharmacy benefits manager to provide its version to patients instead of Daraprim.

"Express Scripts and CVS Health Corp are offering these new products as valid alternatives to Daraprim. No data exists to demonstrate that these compounded products are acceptable alternatives to Daraprim."