Drug company accused of ‘price gouging’ will lower costs

The pharmaceutical company accused of “price gouging” by Hillary Clinton this week will limit the cost increase of its drug, its CEO said.

After making national headlines for the drug’s 4,000 percent cost increase, CEO Martin Shkreli told ABC News late Tuesday that he would make a drug “more affordable.”

{mosads}“We’ve agreed to lower the price on Daraprim to a point that is more affordable and is able to allow the company to make a profit, but a very small profit,” he told ABC News. “We think these changes will be welcomed.”

Turing Pharmaceuticals had been under intense criticism after it increased the cost of a years-old treatment for parasitic infections to $750 a tablet from $13.50 after acquiring the drug last month.

In an earlier interview on Tuesday, Shkreli defended the price of the drug, which he said is “still a bargain for health insurers.”

“This drug saves your life for $50,000,” Shkreli told Bloomberg News, while acknowledging the drug is relatively inexpensive to make.

Democrat presidential candidate Clinton had directly cited the price hike — ”literally overnight” — during a speech Tuesday rolling out her plan to limit aggressive pricing by the pharmaceutical industry.

“That’s price-gouging, pure and simple,” she said about the drug, though did not mention it by name.

Earlier this week, Clinton tweeted about the drug’s “outrageous” price tag — causing biotech stocks to stumble within hours.