Senate
panel probing Valeant, Turing over drug costs
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[November 05, 2015]
By Caroline Humer, Sarah N. Lynch
and Toni Clarke
(Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel on
Wednesday launched a bipartisan probe into pharmaceutical pricing,
seeking documents from four drugmakers including Valeant Pharmaceuticals
and Turing Pharmaceuticals, companies embroiled in controversy over
price hikes on lifesaving drugs.
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The Senate's Special Committee on Aging also requested information
from Retrophin Inc and Rodelis Therapeutics, according to a
statement from the panel's Republican Chairwoman Susan Collins and
Claire McCaskill, its top Democrat.
Also on Wednesday, Democratic members of a U.S. House of
Representatives investigative committee asked Republicans to call a
vote to subpoena Valeant and Turing.
These Democratic leaders called for an investigation of drug prices
in September, emboldened by press reports of a more than 5000
percent overnight increase in a toxoplasmosis drug made by Turing
and a more than 600 percent increase in a blood pressure treatment
from Valeant.
That investigation, along with news that Democratic Presidential
candidate Hillary Clinton found the increases "outrageous" and the
release of her plan to restrict drugmaker profits, has hurt their
stock prices. Drugmakers and their defenders say drugs are priced to
help enable discovery and development of innovative new treatments.
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The effort has not yet been taken up broadly by Republicans.
Investors and analysts have said it would take a wider bipartisan
push to possibly change how drugmakers price their medicines.
House investigative committee Republican Chairman Jason Chaffetz,
who could authorize an investigation, so far has blocked it. His
spokesperson did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Retrophin shares fell 14 percent to $18.67 on Nasdaq. Valeant shares
fell over 2 percent to $95.50 on the New York Stock Exchange.
In a letter to Valeant Chief Executive Mike Pearson, the Senate
committee chairs requested information on sodium drug Nitropress,
which is used to treat high blood pressure. Its price rose by 625
percent to $1,346.62 per vial on the day Valeant acquired the drug,
the letter said. It also cited an 820 percent increase to $36,811
for 25 pills of heart drug Isuprel and a 2,949 percent increase to
$26,189 for 100 capsules of Cuprimine for rheumatoid arthritis.
Valeant said it planned to cooperate with the committee on the
inquiry. Drug prices fluctuate due to factors "including the cost of
development and acquisition and complexities in the health care cost
reimbursement system," spokeswoman Laurie Little said in an emailed
statement.
Valeant is already the subject of a probe by federal prosecutors in
New York and Massachusetts into drug pricing and patient assistance
programs, and is also under scrutiny over separate allegations that
it used specialty pharmacies to pad its revenue.
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The Senate committee also sent a letter to Retrophin requesting
information about Thiola, a drug that treats kidney disease, and
whose price rose to $30 per tablet from $1.50 after Retrophin
acquired licensing rights.
"Pharmaceutical pricing that strikes the right balance between
affordability and enabling innovation is an issue of legitimate
concern for patients and the industry," Retrophin director of
investor relations Chris Cline said in an emailed statement. The
company said it was focused on developing its pipeline of drugs
rather than acquiring and re-marketing old therapies.
The Senate committee also said it wanted to hear more about Turing's
Daraprim, an anti-infective drug used to treat toxoplasmosis among
other diseases. Earlier this year Turing raised the price on the
drug overnight to $750 per pill from $13.50.
Turing did not immediately comment on Wednesday's probe. In
September Turing said it would cut the price of Daraprim, but has
not yet done so. The New York state attorney general's office is
also investigating Turing over whether its Daraprim price increases
violated antitrust rules.
"The sudden, aggressive price hikes for a variety of drugs used
widely for decades affect patients and health care providers and the
overall cost of health care," Collins said in a statement, adding
that the Senate committee is probing the increases given the
potential harm to patients.
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