Valeant said its 20-year-agreement would allow customers to buy certain products at lower out-of-pocket costs from more than 8,000 Walgreens stores, as well as an unspecified number of participating independent retailers.
Advertisement
Before it severed ties with Philidor, the pharmacy was an increasing part of Valeant’s strategy, and specialized in helping doctors and patients get access to Valeant drugs even when insurers declined to cover them.
Separately, Walgreens has agreed it will distribute over 30 branded products of Valeant, where generics are available and at generic prices. More recently, he’s requested interviews with Valeant executives about the company not disclosing its relationship with specialty mail-order pharmacy Philidor.
Under the deal, slated to last 20 years, Walgreens never takes ownership of the drugs but holds them on consignment until delivery, according to Michael Polzin, a Walgreens spokesman. Valeant, based in Laval, Quebec, bought the life-saving heart drugs Nitropress and Isuprel in February, then tripled the price of one and raised the other sixfold.
The agreements reached with Walgreens are aimed at lessening the anxiety of people by linking up with a name that is recognizable and the largest chain of pharmacies in the U.S.
Valeant’s pricing practices have been under investigation by the U.S. Congress since the company dramatically increased prices for some specialty products this year.
Valeant said the ventures, when fully implemented, could save the health care system up to $600 million annually. Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl was the topic in 45 analyst reports since July 21, 2015 according to StockzIntelligence Inc. The company has a market cap of $32.35 billion. The mean of all analyst targets is $183.47 which is 94.87% above today’s ($94.15) stock price. Finally, Scotiabank reissued a “sector outperform” rating and set a C$250.00 target price on shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd.
Brave Warrior Advisors Llc holds 36.57% of its total portfolio in Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc, equating to 5.70 million shares.
Advertisement
Valeant and Walgreens have also signed another separate agreement wherein the latter will also be distributing over 30 other branded ophthalmology, dermatology, neurology and gastrointestinal drugs, whose generics are already available in the market, at generic prices. At reduced prices, volume should go up – especially for the drugs with generic competition – which should reduce the hit to Valeant’s bottom line. The Company operates through two segments: developed markets and emerging markets.
