Valeant Pharma International faces allegations over drug price increases

Valeant Pharma International has responded to allegations of invoice fraud which contributed to a 40% fall in it share price on 21 October. The allegations by Citron Research asserted questionable relationships with two specialty pharmacies and termed Valeant as "the Pharmaceutical Enron". Valeant has denied the allegations and stated that it conformed to all applicable accounting rules and that it had no investments in specialty pharmacies. Valeant stated that only 3% of its products were sold via specialty pharmacies, Botox and ZenPep. Valeant faced earlier charges that it had bought up older drugs and then increased their prices. A Senate Sub Committee on Primary Health and Aging queried the rise in prices of Isuprel (isoprenaline) and NitroPress (sodium nitroprusside) which Valeant had purchased from Marathon Pharma. The prices of Nitropress rose from $258 to $806 (>3-fold change) and of Isuprel from $215 to $1347 (>5-fold change).