John Nath Kapoor (born 1942/1943) is an American felon, multi-millionaire, pharmaceutical entrepreneur, former CEO of

Insys Therapeutics Insys Therapeutics was an American specialty pharmaceutical company based in Chandler, Arizona. Its main product was Subsys, a sublingual liquid form of the drug fentanyl. Fentanyl is an extremely fast-acting and powerful opioid used to relie ...

, and majority shareholder in the generic drug manufacturing company

Akorn Akorn Operating Company LLC (Akorn Inc. prior to its bankruptcy) is an American generic pharmaceuticals manufacturer based in Lake Forest, Illinois. The company deals in developing, manufacturing and marketing of generic and prescription drugs a ...

. In the fall of 2017, Kapoor was arrested and charged with numerous felony counts including

RICO The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization. RICO was en ...

conspiracy, conspiracy to commit

wire fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to fraud, defraud another, and are Federal crime in the United States, federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the ...

, and other crimes. He was found guilty on all counts, and those convictions were upheld on appeal.United States v. Kapoor, Nos. 20-1382, 20-1409 (1st Cir. Aug. 25, 2021), http://media.ca1.uscourts.gov/pdf.opinions/20-1368P-01A.pdf

Early life

John Nath Kapoor was born in

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

, Punjab,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, into a family of modest means. He later moved to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, where he graduated from the

Institute of Chemical Technology Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) is a state-funded deemed university in Mumbai, India. The institute also has campuses at Bhubaneswar, Odisha and Jalna, Marathwada. It is focused on training and research in the fields of chemical engin ...

(formerly UDCT) with a degree in

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

. After moving to the United States, he attended the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1846 ...

on a scholarship and obtained a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

medicinal chemistry Medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacy involved with designing and developing pharmaceutical drugs. Medicinal chemistry involves the identification, synthesis and developm ...

in 1972.

Career

Kapoor began his career in 1972 at Invenex Pharmaceutical in

Grand Island, New York Grand Island is an island town in Erie County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town's population was 21,389 representing an increase of 5.00% from the 2010 census figure. The town's name derives from the French name ''La Grand ...

. He worked his way up at LyphoMed, took the company public and oversaw its operations through a scandal involving lax production standards that resulted in several patients' deaths.

Personal life

Kapoor moved from India to

Lake Forest, Illinois Lake Forest is a city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 19,367. The city is along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the North Shore. Lake Forest ...

. He has four children. The John and Editha Kapoor Charitable Foundation, which supports the fight against cancer, was named after his late wife Editha, who died of

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

. The

University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences The University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is located in Buffalo, NY. It is part of the SUNY system through the State University of New York at Buffalo. In 2020, the school was ranked the #14 top pharmacy school in t ...

named their building John and Editha Kapoor Hall, after a donation to the school by John, to honor him and his late wife. On June 3, 2019, the University at Buffalo passed a resolution to remove Kapoor's name from the UB Pharmacy School's building in light of Kapoor's RICO conviction.

Legal issues

In October 2017, Kapoor was arrested in Arizona and charged with RICO conspiracy, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to violate the Anti-Kickback Law. The charges stem from allegations that he participated in a scheme to bribe doctors to prescribe

fentanyl Fentanyl, also spelled fentanil, is a very potent synthetic opioid used as a pain medication. Together with other drugs, fentanyl is used for anesthesia. It is also used illicitly as a recreational drug, sometimes mixed with heroin, cocaine ...

, a powerful synthetic opioid manufactured under the brand name Subsys by his company Insys Therapeutics. U.S. Attorney William Weinreb said the charges reflected authorities' commitment to combat the

opioid epidemic The opioid epidemic, also referred to as the opioid crisis, is the rapid increase in the overuse, misuse/abuse, and overdose deaths attributed either in part or in whole to the class of drugs opiates/opioids since the 1990s. It includes the sign ...

. Kapoor is also alleged to have conspired to defraud health insurance providers. Shortly after the charges were announced, Kapoor resigned from the Board of Insys Therapeutics. On May 2, 2019, Kapoor was convicted of engaging in a

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. Originally and of ...

conspiracy to increase the profits of his company's opiate painkiller, Subsys. On January 23, 2020, he was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison and described as a "former billionaire"; Federal prosecutors had asked for 15 years. His convictions and sentence were affirmed on appeal. Because of COVID-19, Kapoor delayed the start of his prison sentence. Kapoor is currently incarcerated at Duluth FPC, a minimum security federal prison camp with a projected release date of December 11, 2024, according to the Federal Bureau of Prison's website.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapoor, John Living people 1940s births Businesspeople from Phoenix, Arizona Former billionaires Indian emigrants to the United States Opioid epidemic University at Buffalo alumni University of Mumbai alumni Institute of Chemical Technology alumni Year of birth missing (living people) People convicted of racketeering