The Rebrand
In September 2017, Turing Pharmaceuticals renamed its US operations Vyera Pharmaceuticals. Its parent company became Phoenixus AG, a Swiss holding company. The new name did not revive an earlier company name or refer to any individual.
The rebrand did not change Daraprim pricing, the restricted distribution system, or the business model built around the Daraprim price increase.
Leadership Changes
Four CEOs led the company between its founding and bankruptcy.
Martin Shkreli founded Turing in February 2015 and remained CEO until his arrest on December 17, 2015. Ron Tilles, the board chairman and an original investor, became interim CEO the next day. He stayed in the role until about April 2017.
Dr. Eliseo Salinas succeeded Tilles in April 2017 and served until about June 2017.
Kevin Mulleady became CEO in November 2017, two months after the rebrand. Mulleady had co-founded both Retrophin and Vyera with Shkreli. He remained in the role until about March 2019.
Shkreli's Continued Control
Shkreli resigned from the Turing board in February 2016. He still held influence as Phoenixus AG's largest shareholder and through associates in leadership roles.
In June 2017, Shkreli placed five close supporters on the Vyera board. Kevin Mulleady joined the board and took a seat on a newly created Executive Committee. By November, Mulleady was CEO.
The FTC's later investigation cited that continued influence as part of its case against both the company and Shkreli personally.
What Did Not Change
After the rebrand, Daraprim's list price remained $750 per tablet. The closed distribution system through Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy remained in place. The exclusive supply agreements that locked up the raw ingredient, pyrimethamine API, remained as well. Data restrictions still obscured sales figures from potential generic competitors.
Under Mulleady, Vyera kept trying to block generic entry. When the company learned that an intermediary had obtained five bottles of Daraprim for Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, a generic manufacturer, Mulleady moved to stop the transaction. The FTC described his response as "frantic." Generic manufacturers needed samples for the bioequivalence testing the FDA requires for approval. Vyera's distribution restrictions blocked that access.
The FTC Complaint
On January 27, 2020, the FTC and seven state attorneys general from New York, California, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia filed an antitrust complaint against Vyera Pharmaceuticals, Phoenixus AG, Martin Shkreli, and Kevin Mulleady. The FTC voted unanimously, 5-0.
The complaint alleged a three-part anticompetitive scheme: restricted distribution that blocked generic samples, exclusive API supply agreements that the FTC said served no legitimate business purpose, and data restrictions through IQVIA that hid market information from potential competitors.
Settlement
The case settled in December 2021. Vyera had to provide Daraprim at no more than $1 per tablet to certain buyers, pay up to $40 million over 10 years, license Daraprim to any qualified generic manufacturer, and end its exclusive supply and distribution agreements.
Shkreli was ordered to pay $64.6 million in disgorgement and received a lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry. Mulleady received a seven-year ban. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the settlement in January 2024.
Bankruptcy
In May 2023, Vyera Pharmaceuticals and Phoenixus AG filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company began with $90 million in financing and a $55 million drug acquisition. It ended in liquidation after years of litigation over the same anticompetitive practices described in the FTC complaint.