Clinton steps up attacks on Valeant in latest campaign advert
pharmafile | March 2, 2016 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Hilary Clinton, Valeant
This is not the first time the pharma industry has drawn the ire of the US presidential hopefuls, but Hilary Clinton has stepped up her campaign on what she previously referred to as “price gouging” in her latest national TV advertisement. This time, it is Valeant Pharmaceuticals acting as the target.
The ad itself features a clip from a town hall speech Clinton gave in January where she recounted the experience of a woman whose therapy cost $180 for 10 shots in the 1980s and now costs $14,700 for the same treatment. “The company is called Valeant Pharmaceuticals,” she declares. “I’m going after them. This is predatory pricing, and we’re going to make sure it’s stopped.”
The Canadian-based company has been subject to much turmoil in the last year. They were issued two subpoenas from the US Attorney’s Offices in New York and Massachusetts concerning its pricing, distribution and medicines access policies, and also faced questions over its rapid expansion and acquisitions. Shareholders are said to be troubled by the ongoing SEC investigation on its severed relationship with the specialist pharmacy Philidor, after allegations had emerged that Philidor modified doctors’ prescriptions in order to boost reimbursements from insurers for the Canada-based company.
Just this week, Valeant’s chief executive Michael Pearson has returned from a bout of severe pneumonia in the New Year to find his role now split and shared with Robert Ingram, who has taken on the chairman part of the job. This uncertainty at the top has also not been helped by the postponement of a conference call to discuss fourth-quarter financials with stakeholders. The withdrawal of guidance on this issue is adding further uncertainty over the company’s performance.
With the price of its shares on the slide, it is clear that 2016 could indeed be a make or break year for the company.
Pharma itself has been referenced quite on the campaign trail for the presidential nominations. The Pfizer-Allergan merger, for example, deal angered both sides of the party divide, as the US-based company plotted its escape from the higher level of corporation tax in the US by relocating its headquarters to Allergan’s base of Ireland.
Republican frontrunner Donald Trump said that the “fact that Pfizer is leaving our country with a tremendous loss of jobs is disgusting”, while Democrat Bernie Sanders called the deal a “disaster for American consumers, who already pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.” Clinton also commented that “this proposed merger, and so-called inversions by other companies, will leave US taxpayers holding the bag.”
Pharmafile.com previously reported that the pharma industry has made a big contribution to her campaign, but that has not deterred Clinton from taking aim at the industry. With her Super Tuesday success making her a clear favourite for the Democratic nomination for President, it is highly likely this isn’t the last time the pharma industry will be an issue in the presidential campaign.
Sean Murray
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