Infamous drug entrepreneur arrested in New York

The so-called "most hated man on the internet" was arrested in the US early on Thursday morning, on securities fraud charges related to a company he founded.

Martin Shkreli, 32, rocketed to infamy in September when one of his companies - Turing Pharmaceuticals - purchased the rights to life-saving HIV drug Daraprim (pyrimethamine).

The company then arbitrarily inflated the price by 4000% overnight - from around £11.60 a pill to more than £484.

Federal agents caught up with Shkreli in Manhattan early on Thursday morning, although they weren't interested in his drug-pricing ways.

Brooklyn prosecutors charged him with illegally taking stock from another one of his companies - biotechnology firm Retrophin Inc. Since its foundation in 2011, Shkreli had been ousted from the firm and sued by its board.

It's understood this federal criminal case parallels that lawsuit. Officials allege he set up a complex shell arrangement which involved secret payments and baseless consulting arrangements involving his defunct hedge fund MSMB Capital.

New York-based lawyer Evan Greebel was accused of conspring with Shkreli, and was also arrested on Thursday.

In September, Shkreli responded to the widespread criticism of his decision to jack up the price of Daraphrim by seemingly taking the high road, and promising to lower the price. Days later, he reversed his decision.

When asked at a Forbes summit in New York earlier this month if he would do anything differently a second time around, he said he "probably would have raised the price higher. My investors expect me to maximise profits."

He also recently spent millions obtaining the only copy of a Wu-Tang Clan album, and told Bloomberg he had no plans to listen to it, disappointing thousands of fans who would jump at the chance to hear it but do not share the means Shkreli had access to.

After being sued by Retrophin in August over the same allegations as federal prosecutors hold, he told reporters "the $65m Retrophin wants from me would not dent me.

"I feel great. I'm licking my chops over the suits I'm going to file against them."

Daraprim wasn't Shkreli's first pharmaceutical target. Retrophin previously raised the price of Thiola - a treatment for a kidney stone condition - from £1 to £20. Shkreli also recently bought a majority share in KaloBios, which had acquired the license for benznidazole.

Benznidazole is a treatment for the parasitic Chagas infection common in South America, and currently costs less than £150 for two months. It's understood KaloBios was planning to convert it to a pricing structure that could run to nearly £70,000 for a 12 week supply.

Shkreli's lawyer, as well as a spokeswoman for Greebel's firm, were not commenting said Bloomberg.

Brooklyn prosecutor Robert Capers was due to reveal more about the case at a press conference later on Thursday.