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 Shkreli, 32, sparked outrage last year among patients, medical
societies and Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton
after his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, raised the price of the
drug Daraprim by more than 5,000 percent to $750 a pill.
The lifesaving medicine, used to treat a parasitic infection, once
sold for $1 a pill and has been on the market for more than 60
years.
At a hearing of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform, Shkreli repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution, which says no person shall be compelled in any
criminal case "to be a witness against himself."
Wearing a sport jacket and collared shirt rather than his usual
T-shirt, he responded to questions by laughing, twirling a pencil
and yawning.
Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, asked Shkreli
what he would tell a single, pregnant woman with AIDS who needed
Daraprim to survive, and whether he thought he had done anything
wrong. Shkreli declined to answer.
 "I intend to follow the advice of my counsel, not yours," said
Shkreli after South Carolina Republican Representative Trey Gowdy
suggested he could answer questions that were unrelated to pending
fraud charges against him.
After the hearing, Shkreli's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, attributed
his client's behavior to "nervous energy."
Later, though, Shkreli wrote on Twitter: "Hard to accept that these
imbeciles represent the people in our government."
U.S. Representative Elijah Cummings, who learned about the tweet
while Turing Chief Commercial Officer Nancy Retzlaff was testifying,
pounded his fist on the dais. The Maryland Democrat then shouted
about an internal Turing document in which a staffer joked about the
price increase.
"You all spent all of your time strategizing about how to hide your
price increase ... and coming up with stupid jokes while other
people were sitting there trying to figure out how they were going
to survive," Cummings said.
Shkreli was arrested in December and charged with running his
investment funds and companies almost like a Ponzi scheme. He has
pleaded not guilty to the fraud charges, which are not related to
the pricing of Daraprim. He also stepped down from Turing and was
fired from KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc <KBIOQ.PK>.
Cummings pleaded with Shkreli to reconsider his views about drug
pricing: "You can go down as the poster boy for greedy drug company
executives, or you can change the system."
At one point, Brafman asked to address the committee, but Chaffetz
said no. Shkreli was even asked about his purchase of a
limited-edition Wu-Tang Clan hip-hop album for $2 million.
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"Is that the name of the album? The name of the group?" Gowdy asked.
After Shkreli again invoked the Fifth Amendment, Gowdy added: "I am
stunned that a conversation about an album he purchased could
possibly subject him to incrimination."
Shkreli was allowed to leave early after he repeated he would not
answer questions.
'SUCH CONTEMPT'
Representative John Mica, a Florida Republican, said he would
consider asking fellow lawmakers to hold Shkreli in contempt for his
behavior.
"I don't think I've ever seen the committee treated with such
contempt," Mica said.
Brafman said Shkreli would have liked to discuss drug pricing but
had no choice, given the criminal charges against him.
Shkreli's tweet did not amount to waiving his right against
self-incrimination, experts said. "The First Amendment protects Mr.
Shkreli's right to post his opinion on Twitter that the Congress is
populated by 'imbeciles.' This is classic political free speech,"
said lawyer Paul Callan.
Also at the hearing, Valeant Pharmaceuticals Inc <VRX.TO> interim
CEO Howard Schiller put forward a conciliatory face, testifying that
his company had changed its business and pricing tactics.
"Where we have made mistakes, we are listening and changing,"
Schiller said during opening remarks. "In a number of cases, we have
been too aggressive" about price increases.
Valeant shares rose more than 5 percent during the hearing.
Retzlaff testified that Turing acquired Daraprim because it was
"priced far below its market value" and is committed to investing
revenue into new treatments.
The Federal Trade Commission and the New York attorney general are
investigating Turing for possible antitrust violations.
(Additional reporting by Nate Raymond, Caroline Humer and Noeleen
Walder in New York)
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