Federal prosecutors are filing criminal charges against former executives of Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which technically is based in Canada, and a mail-order pharmacy it helped to establish as the backlash against skyrocketing drug prices grows. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan on Thursday released a complaint against ex-Valeant executive Gary Tanner and Andrew Davenport, who ran the now-defunct Philidor mail-order pharmacy, outlining charges of wire fraud and conspiracy in an alleged scheme to bilk Valeant out of tens of millions of dollars.
Conspiracy to enrich with Valeant funds
The complaint states that Tanner and Davenport conspired to enrich themselves with Valeant funds. It alleges that Tanner was employed by Valeant to head its “access solutions team,” which worked to get patients’ insurers to cover brand-name Valeant medicines instead of much-cheaper generic ones. In morning trading, Valeant shares fell 30 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $17.58. Valeant said it faced unexpected challenges in the third quarter, including weakness in its dermatology business (read more).
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Read more at Reuters and The Daily Mail.
