Valeant receives court writ over US drug pricing
pharmafile | October 15, 2015 | News story | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing |Â Â Drug pricing, Isuprel, Nitropress, US, Valeant, subpoenaÂ
Valeant Pharmaceuticals has disclosed that it has received two subpoenas in the US, demanding evidence concerning the pricing and distribution of its drugs and its medicines access policies.
The subpoenas, which came from the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts and from the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, also seek information and documents from the Canadian drug company, regarding information it provided to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Senator Claire McCaskill also wrote to the company, specifically stating her concerns over increases in the prices of Valeant products Nitropress and Isuprel. The company increased the price of both drugs after acquiring their rights earlier this year. Isuprel’s price rose 121%, while that of Nitropress rose 525%.
J Michael Pearson, the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Valeant, responded in a letter on Wednesday, stating that the company would fully co-operate with the subpoenas.
Pearson explained the company’s reimbursement process to the Senator and informed her that Valeant spent $544 million on patient assistance last year, and expects this figure to increase to $630 million this year.
The company also disclosed that it is beginning outreach to hospitals where the impact of a price change was significantly greater than the average, while adding that the price increases of the two drugs in question had had little impact on average hospital costs.
Valeant’s letter made clear that the company had hired a consultant during the acquisition process of the two drugs for specialist advice on appropriate pricing and the reimbursement process. The consultant recommended that “there was considerable room to increase the price of both drugs without unduly depleting the funds available to the hospitals from payers”
Pearson comments: “All of us at Valeant firmly believe in maintaining strong regulatory and financial controls and believe we have operated our business in a fully compliant manner. We remain committed to assisting eligible patients who need our products, and we will be working with the appropriate groups to submit the requested documents and plan to cooperate with the inquiries.”
Joel Levy
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