On the eve of Christmas season, when everyone was deeply involved in welcoming Santa and celebrating the festival, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc's CEO was battling with severe pneumonia in a hospital. Laurie Little, spokeswoman of the company, said that J. Michael Pearson, 56-year-old CEO, was admitted recently and is receiving treatment. She said that the company's wishes and blessings are with Mr. Pearson and they wish a speedy recovery for him.
Last week, Mr. Pearson urged investors to look past the concerns that caused 57% drop in the shares of the Laval, Quebec-based company, from its August peak this year. He advised the team to focus on products that will grow beyond current expectations. He even promised shareholders to provide more transparent data about Valeant's business, including sales figures for its top 30 drugs. But, his speech raised anger among lawmakers and investors for its use of mail-order pharmacies, price increases and acquisitions for growth because they consider his voice was much defiant than apologetic.
Since long time, Pearson had been working to win back investors' trust and so he reached a deal with Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. to sell Valeant drugs in the drugstore chain's pharmacies at a discount. Last year Valeant joined with with Bill Ackman to buy Allergan but the Botox maker fought the hostile bid and ended up getting acquired by Actavis PLC. In November, Bill Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management, one of the largest holders of the stock, was down more than 17%. Having a look at the professional life of Mr. Pearson, he is a former McKinsey & Co. consultant who was the architect behind Valeant's turnaround from a troubled small drugmaker. Since taking Valeant's helm in 2008, Mr. Pearson used dozens of acquisitions to expand the business and turn it into one of the most highflying stocks. Valeant now has a $ 39 billion market cap.
According to a report from the Bloomberg, Last week, Pearson urged investors to look past the concerns that have sent the stock of the Laval, Quebec-based company down 57 percent from its August peak this year and said they should focus on products that will grow beyond current expectations.
Pearson promised shareholders to provide more transparent data about Valeant's business, including sales figures for its top 30 drugs. But his tone was more defiant than apologetic when discussing the company's strategy, which has drawn scrutiny from lawmakers and investors for its use of mail-order pharmacies, price increases and acquisitions for growth.
Under the agreement of 20 years, Valeant will lower prices of its brand prescription based ophthalmological and dermatologic products by up to 10%. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl from $ 300.00 to $ 195.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 6th. The drug deal comes six weeks after the company had cut ties with specialty online pharmacy Philidor.
Congressional committees have targeted Valeant as they investigate huge hikes in prices for some drugs, which have become a top concern for consumers and a big issue in the 2016 presidential campaign, told the North Star National.
The HexaNews notes that, Valeant, in particular, has taken criticism for its practice of buying smaller drug developers, hiking drug prices and then slashing spending on research into new drugs.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. on Wednesday slashed its outlook for the current quarter and full year, and issued downbeat earnings guidance for 2016, as the drugmaker deals with the fallout from its relationship with a controversial mail-order pharmacy.
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