Valeant hires attorney and crisis management firm to handle bad US PR
pharmafile | December 17, 2015 | Appointment | Medical Communications, Sales and Marketing | Robert Kelner, Valeant, Vianovo. Covington & Burling
Valeant has retained attorney Robert Kelner, a partner at the law firm Covington & Burling, to help the beleaguered pharma company to respond to congressional inquiries.
The firm has represented major drugmakers such as Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer, and Kelner has been appointed to help the firm strategise ahead of an investigation led by an oversight committee in the US House of Representatives. His company profile says he “defends clients in congressional investigations before virtually every major congressional investigation committee” and that “he has prepared many CEOs and corporate executives for testimony before congressional investigation panels.”
Separately, the Senate Special Committee on Aging has launched the first of a series of hearings to investigate rising costs in off-patent drugs, with a focus on two heart drugs manufactured by Valeant, which was asked to provide documentation to the panel by December 2.
The panel’s Republican Chairwoman, Susan Collins of Maine, says she plans to ask Valeant chief executive Michael Pearson to testify at a future hearing. The House Oversight Committee is also investigating drug pricing and plans to hold a hearing sometime in the New Year.
The Canadian outfit has also brought in Vianovo, a crisis management and lobbying firm with a base in Washington that specialises in “high-stakes brand, policy and crisis issues.”
Laurie Little, Valeant’s senior vice president of investor relations, told Reuters in a statement: “Valeant uses a variety of firms for legal and public relations work. Covington recently was retained to assist the company in responding to congressional inquiries.”
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