Australian Teens Own Martin Shkreli, Re-create Life-Saving Drug

Martin Shkreli just got punked by some Australian teens. Shkreli became a reviled figure after he raised the price of anti-AIDS drug Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per tablet. Now, the BBC reports that a group of 17-year-olds from Sydney have recreated the active ingredient in the drug for just $20. "It wasn't terribly hard but that's really the point, I think, because we're high school students," Charles Jameson, one of the teens, told the BBC. The group managed to create 3.7 grams of pyrimethamine for a mere $20. That quantity would run you $110,000 should you buy it from Shkreli's Turing Pharmaceuticals in the United States. But in other parts of the world, a single tablet is sold for just $1.50. "You know, if anyone should get rich in life, it's the guy who's helping the dying kid," Shkreli told Vice earlier this year. Shkreli was arrested last December on charges of security fraud. His testimony before Congress drew wide criticism for his blatant disregard for the seriousness of the proceedings.