Post: #26

(09-23-2015 08:06 AM)kosko Wrote:  I get the vibe it was part hustle and part publicity stunt to drive up shares. I just noticed now I have ad banners for HIV drugs from reading about this story in the news sites. The cookies/Adsense have been activated which leads me to believe the ads were put ahead of the story being put out.

Other way around, the ads were always there. They're just reading your cookies which has the article story in it.

Download Adblock plus to do away with them.

Post: #27

Yep, definitely publicity stunt. Near perfect. When are the media going to realise that creating hysteria against ABC Corporation, or Mr X, Y or Z is usually just going to make them stronger. They act as if every person is a politician. But ordinary people, and even CEO's, aren't anywhere close to politicians in their level of exposure to public sentiment. Here's the maths...

As a politician:
Raw numbers before saying something outrageous(Approval:Dissaproval): 50,000:50,000
Raw numbers after saying something outrageous (Approval:Dissaproval): 200,000:300,000
Result: Lose election

As a business owner:
Raw numbers before saying something outrageous(Approval:Dissaproval): 500:500
Raw numbers after saying something outrageous (Approval:Dissaproval): 50,000:100,000
Result: $$$'s

Like I say. Media employees think "the personal is political" (whatever that means) and that people, business leaders and corporations are under the same kind of pressures that elected politicians face. But they are not. A corporation, business leader, and sometimes even a private individual, gains whenever their raw approval numbers increase. The disapproval numbers are almost irrelevant. There is no election they need to win, or electorate they need to pander to. It's all upside. And a thing of beauty.

PS: If the corporation is very large the maths does tend to break down. Simply because there is so little remaining upside potential. Everybody potentially interested in your product is already a fan. But for small, medium, and even only "large" corporations "all publicity is good publicity" is is usually true.

Post: #28

(09-23-2015 08:21 AM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 08:06 AM)kosko Wrote:  I get the vibe it was part hustle and part publicity stunt to drive up shares. I just noticed now I have ad banners for HIV drugs from reading about this story in the news sites. The cookies/Adsense have been activated which leads me to believe the ads were put ahead of the story being put out.

Other way around, the ads were always there. They're just reading your cookies which has the article story in it.

Download Adblock plus to do away with them.

A bit off topic, but still relevant because there is indeed a stunt to drive up shares:


Adblock used to be the be-all-end-all solution for this issue, but in the 2015 web, it's only a very part of the solution.

Now, advertising affiliates, in direct communication with the host, will have the website create a 1x1 pixel tag to test if you have an Adblock that correctly blocks the tag, which then sets off their flag "AdblockEnabled" (different advertising companies implement this differently, unfortunately).

To then follow the JS logic: If the website host's javascript picks up on the fact that you have adblock enabled (blocked the pixel tag), they will then serve up other content that bypasses your adblock description. If that doesn't work, they'll deny access to the content. In 2015 I'd recommend adding additional plugins like "Disconnect" along with Adblock(+).

To get rid of it entirely, you now have to take the scorched earth approach of fully disabling javascript. Unfortunately this breaks the rendering of many of the pages you visit.

Post: #29

Price gouging of medicine is obscene. But this story is a bit too much Cecilthelion: brainless outraged mob that doesn't see this is far more common than they think.

New drugs have _huge_ obscenely high profit margins. This is only an exception, because the guy raised the price after the medicine had been cheap before.

Post: #30

I don't think that the 'brainless mob" doesnt see that this is more common. If anything, people are well aware that this shit happens all the time and that is why the mob formed so quickly. Also, this is another interesting example of lazy journalism, where once the mob formed on reddit and other social media sites media outlets skimmed the commenters and produced clickbait titles. First they call it an HIV drug, then drug for pregnant women. . . i don't think any 'journalist" researched what exactly it does.

Post: #31

(09-23-2015 06:02 PM)Repo Wrote:  I don't think that the 'brainless mob" doesnt see that this is more common. If anything, people are well aware that this shit happens all the time and that is why the mob formed so quickly. Also, this is another interesting example of lazy journalism, where once the mob formed on reddit and other social media sites media outlets skimmed the commenters and produced clickbait titles. First they call it an HIV drug, then drug for pregnant women. . . i don't think any 'journalist" researched what exactly it does.

Actually it's a drug for both. GRIDs fags and pregnant cat ladies are both at risk for toxoplasmosis.

Post: #32

(09-23-2015 04:29 PM)ManVsMachine Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 08:21 AM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 08:06 AM)kosko Wrote:  I get the vibe it was part hustle and part publicity stunt to drive up shares. I just noticed now I have ad banners for HIV drugs from reading about this story in the news sites. The cookies/Adsense have been activated which leads me to believe the ads were put ahead of the story being put out.

Other way around, the ads were always there. They're just reading your cookies which has the article story in it.

Download Adblock plus to do away with them.

In 2015 I'd recommend adding additional plugins like "Disconnect" along with Adblock(+).

To get rid of it entirely, you now have to take the scorched earth approach of fully disabling javascript. Unfortunately this breaks the rendering of many of the pages you visit.

I personally use the Holy Trinity of Adblock, Noscript, and Ghostery.

Noscript and Ghostery are cool because you can turn them off for specific sites as needed.

Post: #33

Jim Peron has a great commentary on the subject:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-pero...74724.html

"It would appear the villain, at least in this case, is not the non-existent free market, but the controls imposed by the FDA granting a regional monopoly. Lowe says it is time to rethink the federal policies that made this possible--something that couldn't have actually happened in a depoliticized market. "The regulatory framework for bringing old drugs into modern compliance has had unintended consequences, and it's time to rethink it. The regulatory framework for taking a drug into closed distribution has had unintended consequences, and it's time to rethink it."

The irony of all this is that the people most outraged are so woefully uninformed as to how this happened they call for federal regulations creating further profit opportunities for the parasites who use regulations to line their own pockets."


This whole thing is a classic example of how socialists blame the free market for problems caused by government.

Post: #34

If patent laws were taken away for drugs there would never be any new drugs. Companies would just produce and sell for less (didn't have to pay for research/clinical trials/advertising)

Post: #35

An analysis on what this guy really did:

Quote:He has, from what I can find, $4 - $15 million in shares of borrowed stock in various pharma corp. entities.

So, the moment reddit started circle-jerking about the injustice to the AIDS victims, and someone on Hilary's digital media team said "Mrs. Clinton - appeal to all these voters by shitting on this dude!" he cracked a beer and watched his whole plan unfold.

In realistic share terms, taking taxes, interest rates in the ST contract with his lenders, and estimated holding into account, is probably several million dollars in profit for a day of acting. Someone above said "he'll make billions short-selling!" Not only could he not make that much on a 20% drop short sale with his highest estimated borrowed holding, but the profit from a short sale like this doesn't come to light for the market player until days, weeks, even months later when the price is back up to optimal value for cashing out.

So, its safe to say that he made millions with his little PR stunt, and vocationally, in a vacuum, he's fucking brilliant. Again, universally - he's a cunt, but has an undeniable vocational aptitude for what he does.
If this probable play theory is on point, he knew he'd announce this cost reduction and caving on the 5k% value inflation shortly after reddit, twitter, mainstream media, and Hilary all started airing out their grievances - and he knew that there would be a subsequent revitalization in the pharma. share market base.

Bada bing bada boom. Say what you want about this guy, but he just acted like a cunt in order to troll the outrage bandwagon into actually influencing share values, and it fucking worked. He didn't deprive any dying children, he didn't put anyone on the street, he probably didn't even leave his fucking office.

Alas, the predictable freakout hit the exact water mark he wanted it to, maybe even higher, and he bought all he could at the low price the bandwagon created, flipped back his $4-$15 million in borrowed shares to his creditors with presumably a "lets do business again real soon" interest rate, and will soon profit generously when the market settles back to its regular CFS.

Post: #36

(09-24-2015 01:27 AM)MattW Wrote:  An analysis on what this guy really did:

Quote:He has, from what I can find, $4 - $15 million in shares of borrowed stock in various pharma corp. entities.

So, the moment reddit started circle-jerking about the injustice to the AIDS victims, and someone on Hilary's digital media team said "Mrs. Clinton - appeal to all these voters by shitting on this dude!" he cracked a beer and watched his whole plan unfold.

In realistic share terms, taking taxes, interest rates in the ST contract with his lenders, and estimated holding into account, is probably several million dollars in profit for a day of acting. Someone above said "he'll make billions short-selling!" Not only could he not make that much on a 20% drop short sale with his highest estimated borrowed holding, but the profit from a short sale like this doesn't come to light for the market player until days, weeks, even months later when the price is back up to optimal value for cashing out.

So, its safe to say that he made millions with his little PR stunt, and vocationally, in a vacuum, he's fucking brilliant. Again, universally - he's a cunt, but has an undeniable vocational aptitude for what he does.
If this probable play theory is on point, he knew he'd announce this cost reduction and caving on the 5k% value inflation shortly after reddit, twitter, mainstream media, and Hilary all started airing out their grievances - and he knew that there would be a subsequent revitalization in the pharma. share market base.

Bada bing bada boom. Say what you want about this guy, but he just acted like a cunt in order to troll the outrage bandwagon into actually influencing share values, and it fucking worked. He didn't deprive any dying children, he didn't put anyone on the street, he probably didn't even leave his fucking office.

Alas, the predictable freakout hit the exact water mark he wanted it to, maybe even higher, and he bought all he could at the low price the bandwagon created, flipped back his $4-$15 million in borrowed shares to his creditors with presumably a "lets do business again real soon" interest rate, and will soon profit generously when the market settles back to its regular CFS.

I'm busy reading Reminiscences of a Stock Operator and several episodes of this type of price rigging are described. It's as old as Wall Street. (I highly recommend the book, by the way, not just because it has a lot of investment insights, but also for the can-do, never-give-up story of a man who went from rags to riches to rags and back to riches - some good life lessons there.)

There is clearly some sort of red pill you can take with regards to the stock market. The best stock speculators don't just buy/sell stock, they manipulate the price. While everyone else is talking about how stock prices are up or down because of China/the weather/profit-taking/interest rates/whatever, there are guys behind the scenes laughing at how clueless everyone is. Most financial analysis is blue pill and missing the point.

Post: #37

(09-23-2015 04:29 PM)ManVsMachine Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 08:21 AM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

(09-23-2015 08:06 AM)kosko Wrote:  I get the vibe it was part hustle and part publicity stunt to drive up shares. I just noticed now I have ad banners for HIV drugs from reading about this story in the news sites. The cookies/Adsense have been activated which leads me to believe the ads were put ahead of the story being put out.

Other way around, the ads were always there. They're just reading your cookies which has the article story in it.

Download Adblock plus to do away with them.

A bit off topic, but still relevant because there is indeed a stunt to drive up shares:


Adblock used to be the be-all-end-all solution for this issue, but in the 2015 web, it's only a very part of the solution.

Now, advertising affiliates, in direct communication with the host, will have the website create a 1x1 pixel tag to test if you have an Adblock that correctly blocks the tag, which then sets off their flag "AdblockEnabled" (different advertising companies implement this differently, unfortunately).

To then follow the JS logic: If the website host's javascript picks up on the fact that you have adblock enabled (blocked the pixel tag), they will then serve up other content that bypasses your adblock description. If that doesn't work, they'll deny access to the content. In 2015 I'd recommend adding additional plugins like "Disconnect" along with Adblock(+).

To get rid of it entirely, you now have to take the scorched earth approach of fully disabling javascript. Unfortunately this breaks the rendering of many of the pages you visit.

Yeah, i've seen that before too only on a few sites. There's an "adblock removal list" that eastlist maintains that fights this. I've used Noscript before, but honestly it's more trouble than it is worth. I very rarely run into content that is blocked because of adblock. Honestly, I just don't browse back to those sites.

On topic: Time to set up shop importing cheap HIV drugs from India and selling them on some Tor marketplace for 5-10$ a pop.

Post: #38

Quote:The head of a US pharmaceutical company has defended his company's decision to raise the price of a 62-year-old medication used by Aids patients by over 5,000%.

If this is true then the drug is at least 40 years out of patent. Unless I'm missing something here, other companies can easily start pumping this drug out at a lower price and the resulting price war will lower the cost back to where it was prior to this scandal. This is a non-issue.

Post: #39

http://priceonomics.com/the-art-of-handl...implosion/

Quote:Shkreli’s handling of the Daraprim price inflation was, in every way, a case study of what not to do in the aftermath of a PR crisis.

They still don't get it. They don't realize - trolling was the point. They think they're approval matters, when really, only their attention did.

Post: #40

(09-26-2015 11:32 AM)Barbarian_Brad Wrote:  http://priceonomics.com/the-art-of-handl...implosion/

Quote:Shkreli’s handling of the Daraprim price inflation was, in every way, a case study of what not to do in the aftermath of a PR crisis.

They still don't get it. They don't realize - trolling was the point. They think they're approval matters, when really, only their attention did.

Absolutely genius and one helluva stock play. Is what he did legal?

Post: #41

(09-26-2015 01:07 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

(09-26-2015 11:32 AM)Barbarian_Brad Wrote:  http://priceonomics.com/the-art-of-handl...implosion/

Quote:Shkreli’s handling of the Daraprim price inflation was, in every way, a case study of what not to do in the aftermath of a PR crisis.

They still don't get it. They don't realize - trolling was the point. They think they're approval matters, when really, only their attention did.

Absolutely genius and one helluva stock play. Is what he did legal?

I believe that American law would consider that to be 'insider trading,' which is illegal.

Post: #42

(09-28-2015 07:31 AM)Thomas the Rhymer Wrote:  

(09-26-2015 01:07 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

(09-26-2015 11:32 AM)Barbarian_Brad Wrote:  http://priceonomics.com/the-art-of-handl...implosion/

Quote:Shkreli’s handling of the Daraprim price inflation was, in every way, a case study of what not to do in the aftermath of a PR crisis.

They still don't get it. They don't realize - trolling was the point. They think they're approval matters, when really, only their attention did.

Absolutely genius and one helluva stock play. Is what he did legal?

I believe that American law would consider that to be 'insider trading,' which is illegal.

It's not insider trading if the advanced knowledge came from himself. I'd argue that it is wire fraud, but this is all a legal grey area where I presume his lawyer is well paid enough to fight such a charge.

Post: #43

Well the smug fucker might not do well for too long. Capitalism at work. I wonder how much he paid for it and was it based on this higher pricing. Would hate to explain this to the board. "I thought I knew what I was doing":laugh:

http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/10/d...ompetitor/

Quote:Turing Pharmaceuticals, the company that last month raised the price of the decades-old drug Daraprim from $13.50 a pill to $750, now has a competitor.

Imprimis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company based in San Diego, announced today that it has made an alternative to Daraprim that costs about a buck a pill—or $99 for a 100-pill supply.

“While we respect Turing's right to charge patients and insurance companies whatever it believes is appropriate, there may be more cost-effective compounded options for medications, such as Daraprim,” Mark L. Baum, CEO of Imprimis, said in a news release.

The alternative is not exactly the same as Daraprim, but it’s close. Daraprim’s active ingredient is pyrimethamine, which has been available since 1953 for the treatment of parasitic diseases (namely malaria and toxoplasmosis). Imprimis’ alternative also contains pyrimethamine as well as leucovorin, which the company said helps to reverse pyrimethamine’s negative effects on bone marrow.

Until now, Turing was the sole source of a pyrimethamine-based drug, which is often prescribed to patients with compromised immune systems such as those suffering from AIDS and cancer.

The price increase of Daraprim, announced last month, sparked widespread outrage against the company and its founder and chief executive, Martin Shkreli. The move by Imprimis is in direct response to those events, and the company said it plans to produce more cheap alternative drugs. In the news release, the company announced the start of a new program called Imprimis Cares, which will ensure affordable versions of the 7,800 generic FDA-approved drugs.

Post: #44

It honestly won't do a thing for Americans its just something for politicans to do to add to the resume. These parasite diseases are mostly 3rd world diseases primarily due to bad sanitation. If you look at epidemiology charts then you'll see it's only South America, Africa, and only Asia. Americans aren't getting these diseases. It's really illegals bringing over these diseases who need treatment for it or the guy from Africa who brought over Ebola. They aren't paying for it anyway so Healthcare companies smartly charged them (government/taxpayers) more. If you have Hiv/Aids then if you don't die from that disease you're susceptible to 1000s of other diseases that will easily kill you. This company isn't going to make any profit of off this.

Post: #45

(10-22-2015 06:52 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  Well the smug fucker might not do well for too long. Capitalism at work. I wonder how much he paid for it and was it based on this higher pricing. Would hate to explain this to the board. "I thought I knew what I was doing":laugh:

Depends on what level you're playing the game on.

- Become CEO of one company

- Silently own second company you're the major stockholder of via various levels of deniability

- Raise the price of first product's company in a way that pisses off the consumer base and the media

- A few weeks later, announce existence of politically-correct competitor offering a low-cost alternative to the drugs, possibly in a unique, patentable combination then announce the companies goal to offer future alternatives for other popular drugs

- Sales boom, free press, stock increase

- Break up first company, sell assets, get golden handshake

Generic-Brand Scrooge McDuck agrees:

Post: #46

If he owns the second company then yes that seems pretty mastermind. Does he own a lot of the second company?

Post: #47

^ No idea mate. I was more offering the possibility as explanation for how this could possibly make sense.

I tend to mastermind evil plans for fun that I never enact. Call it a hobby.

Post: #48

(10-22-2015 08:38 PM)AnonymousBosch Wrote:  ^ No idea mate. I was more offering the possibility as explanation for how this could possibly make sense.

I tend to mastermind evil plans for fun that I never enact. Call it a hobby.

Post: #49

(10-22-2015 07:09 PM)EuphoricWizard Wrote:  It honestly won't do a thing for Americans its just something for politicans to do to add to the resume. These parasite diseases are mostly 3rd world diseases primarily due to bad sanitation. If you look at epidemiology charts then you'll see it's only South America, Africa, and only Asia. Americans aren't getting these diseases. It's really illegals bringing over these diseases who need treatment for it or the guy from Africa who brought over Ebola. They aren't paying for it anyway so Healthcare companies smartly charged them (government/taxpayers) more. If you have Hiv/Aids then if you don't die from that disease you're susceptible to 1000s of other diseases that will easily kill you. This company isn't going to make any profit of off this.

toxoplasmosis is a common sickness that afflicts people with HIV/AIDS. It's not strictly limited to the third world.

Post: #50

(10-22-2015 06:52 PM)samsamsam Wrote:  Well the smug fucker might not do well for too long. Capitalism at work. I wonder how much he paid for it and was it based on this higher pricing. Would hate to explain this to the board. "I thought I knew what I was doing":laugh:

http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/10/d...ompetitor/

Quote:Turing Pharmaceuticals, the company that last month raised the price of the decades-old drug Daraprim from $13.50 a pill to $750, now has a competitor.

Imprimis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company based in San Diego, announced today that it has made an alternative to Daraprim that costs about a buck a pill—or $99 for a 100-pill supply.

“While we respect Turing's right to charge patients and insurance companies whatever it believes is appropriate, there may be more cost-effective compounded options for medications, such as Daraprim,” Mark L. Baum, CEO of Imprimis, said in a news release.

The alternative is not exactly the same as Daraprim, but it’s close. Daraprim’s active ingredient is pyrimethamine, which has been available since 1953 for the treatment of parasitic diseases (namely malaria and toxoplasmosis). Imprimis’ alternative also contains pyrimethamine as well as leucovorin, which the company said helps to reverse pyrimethamine’s negative effects on bone marrow.

Until now, Turing was the sole source of a pyrimethamine-based drug, which is often prescribed to patients with compromised immune systems such as those suffering from AIDS and cancer.

The price increase of Daraprim, announced last month, sparked widespread outrage against the company and its founder and chief executive, Martin Shkreli. The move by Imprimis is in direct response to those events, and the company said it plans to produce more cheap alternative drugs. In the news release, the company announced the start of a new program called Imprimis Cares, which will ensure affordable versions of the 7,800 generic FDA-approved drugs.

That's a huge undercutting of the competition.

It's also very smart because i'm sure this company has also opened itself up to the large international developing country market who will gladly buy from a developed world pharm company. That's probably what they were banking on all along by coming into the market at that price level.