Martin Shkreli, a former pharmaceutical executive best known for pumping the price of a life-saving drug by 5,000%, is launching his new cryptocurrency-focused startup called Druglike.
Shkreli's new venture is aimed at democratizing the costs, access, and rewards of computational drug discovery, a press release says. Shkreli, who was released from prison for lying to hedge fund investors, says his new project will "remove barriers to early-stage drug discovery, increase innovation and allow a broader group of contributors to share the rewards." He added:
"Underserved and underfunded communities, such as those focused on rare diseases or in developing markets, will also benefit from access to these tools."
Based on a "decentralized computing network" with a modernized consensus algorithm called Proof-of-Optimization, Druglike will also give validators the way to monetize their efforts for a native token called MSI.
With MSI, validators can run both solver and validator nodes "powering industrial-scale virtual screening campaigns," the press release says.
