League of Legends Team Exec Caught Up in Drug Price Hike Controversy

Martin Shkreli, the chairman of professional League of Legends squad Team Imagine, is making headlines this week, but they have nothing to do with video games.

Shkreli, a former hedge fund manager, is now the CEO of a pharmaceutical company called Turing Pharmaceutical. He's found himself in hot water after his company acquired the 62-year-old drug Daraprim in August and has now raised the price from $13.50 per tablet to $750, an increase of over 5,000 percent.

As reported by The New York Times, Daraprim is "used mainly to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasite infection that can cause serious or even life-threatening problems for babies born to women who become infected during pregnancy, and also for people with compromised immune systems, like AIDS patients and certain cancer patients."

Turing's price increase on Daraprim is "unjustifiable for the medically vulnerable patient population" and "unsustainable for the health care system" according to a joint letter (PDF) from The Infectious Diseases Society of America and the HIV Medicine Association sent to Turing earlier this month.

For his part, Shkreli told The Times, “This isn't the greedy drug company trying to gouge patients, it is us trying to stay in business." He added that his company plans to use the proceeds to develop better treatments for toxoplasmosis that yield fewer side effects.

"This is still one of the smallest pharmaceutical products in the world," he added. "It really doesn't make sense to get any criticism for this."

Shkreli also spoke with GameSpot sister site CBS News. In an interview, he said the price increase is "not excessive at all." But not everyone is convinced. Even presidential hopeful Hilary Clinton has spoken out against Shkreli.

Some have even wondered if League of Legends creator Riot Games should step in to make a judgment regarding the situation surrounding Shkreli. eSports website eSportsObserver points out that the League of Legends Championship series rules (PDF) include a section for "Moral Turpitude."

"A Team Member may not engage in any activity which is deemed by the LCS to be immoral, disgraceful, or contrary to conventional standards of proper ethical behavior," reads the line.

Shkreli started the League of Legends team Odyssey in April; it merged with Team Imagine in August. We'll have more on this story as it develops.