STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about Sanofi settling an EU antitrust probe, ‘pharma bro’ Shkreli, and more

Martin Shkreli, also known as "pharma bro," has returned to the pharmaceutical industry, but the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is unhappy. The agency and seven states have asked a U.S. court to hold Shkreli in contempt for repeatedly violating a court order that banned him from working in the industry. Shkreli, infamous for raising the price of a drug by 5,000% in 2015, served seven years in prison for defrauding investors in 2018.

Before his release in 2022, a court prohibited him from working in the pharmaceutical industry due to his illegal attempts to hinder generic competition. Since his release, Shkreli has become active in trading pharma stocks, sharing his analysis on social media platforms.

In a separate matter, the European Union's antitrust regulators have reached a settlement with pharmaceutical giant Sanofi following an investigation into a misleading campaign. The EC alleged that Sanofi disparaged the only alternative flu vaccine recommended for high-risk patients, Fluad, marketed by CSL Seqirus, in a campaign primarily targeting healthcare professionals in Germany and France.

The EU claims that Sanofi positioned its own Efluelda vaccine as superior to Fluad in the communication effort. To avoid a fine, Sanofi agreed to accept the EU's concessions, which allowed the company to settle the probe without incurring penalties.