Schoolchildren have recreated a HIV drug on sale for £594 in the US for just £1.60 a dose.

(Picture credit :Reuters)

Martin Shkreli was branded the ‘most hated man in America’ after raising the price of Daraprim in the US by 5,000%. But now secondary school pupils have proven just how little it actually costs to make after recreating the drug.

 Daraprim is considered an essential medicine by the World Health Organisation and is used to treat malaria and people with HIV. It is also considered an effective anti­parasitic treatment for toxoplasmosis, which can be a dangerous disease for pregnant women. It was originally on sale for £10.70 in the US but the price was hiked to nearly £600 a pill when Shkreli acquired the marketing rights for his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals. 

                                                                          

Martin Shkreli was branded the ‘most hated man in America’ after raising the price of Daraprim in the US by 5,000%. (Picture: Pete Marovich/Bloomberg)

MORE: There are 40,000 people living with HIV and most don’t even know it yet Daraprim is considered an essential medicine by the World Health Organisation and is used to treat malaria and people with HIV (Picture: Reuters) 12/2/2016 Schoolchildren recreate Martin Shkreli's HIV drug Daraprim for £1.60. The 16 and 17­year­old students, from Sydney Grammar School, reproduced pyrimethamine, the active ingredient in the drug, with the help and guidance of the University of Sydney. They started off with less than £16 of the drug, and in one reaction produced thousands of pounds worth. Student Brandon Lee said: ‘I think because we are high school students we are able to relate to a larger audience, able to relate to the general public and show that even ordinary high school students like us, are able to make this drug for a pretty low price. ‘..to show these compounds which you think are only accessible to these large, large scale companies are actually able to be accessed and produced by ordinary citizens.’ Associate Professor Matthew Todd added: ‘Daraprim may be quickly and simply made, bringing into question the need for such a high price for this important medicine.’ Mr Shkreli has since stepped down from Turing and was fired from another company, KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc. 

(culled from the metro.co.uk)