WSJ Highlights More 'Smoke' at Valeant Pharma (VRX) Ahead of Conference Call
Valeant Pharma (NYSE: VRX) is under pressure again in pre-open trading Monday despite a new statement from the company that it "confirmed the appropriateness of the company's related revenue recognition and accounting treatment." The driving factor for today's downside is an Wall Street Journal article which highlights more smoke related to the company's ownership and dealings with specialty pharmacies, including Philidor.
The Journal highlighted that some employees at Philidor also worked at Valeant and used e-mails with alternative names:
From the article:
"Around the Phoenix-area offices of mail-order pharmacy Philidor Rx Services LLC, employees said they often ran into a friendly colleague named Bijal Patel who tracked prescriptions. But when the employees got an email from the colleague, they say he used a different name: Peter Parker, the alter ego of Spider-Man."
There was also this:
"The people described how Philidor made it easy for patients to get Valeant drugs, even if insurers balked at the high prices, shedding light on some of the complex efforts used by companies like Valeant to sell drugs that are expensive... Use of specialty pharmacies is legal, but Valeant’s efforts to secure reimbursement, and general lack of disclosure until recently, could trigger scrutiny from health insurers and regulators, according to analysts."
and this:
"A separate department at Philidor would seek insurance coverage. If the insurer asked a doctor to explain why the patient needed a costlier Valeant drug rather than a less-expensive alternative, Philidor employees would sometimes fill out the paperwork for the doctor, two of the employees said."
Valeant is hosting an investor conference at 8AM to address accusations of accounting fraud brought to light by short seller Citron Research and others last week.
Shares of Valeant last traded down 11.3% in pre-open trading to $103.