Former Valeant Financial Chief to Testify Before Senate
27 April 2016 - 12:20AM
Dow Jones News
Howard Schiller, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.'s
former chief financial officer, will join a list of company
witnesses testifying Wednesday at a Senate committee hearing
investigating business practices, the committee said Tuesday.
Mr. Schiller will join Michael Pearson, Valeant's departing
chief executive, and William Ackman, a major Valeant investor and
board member, who already were slated to testify at the hearing of
the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging.
The committee is looking into dramatic increases in drug prices
imposed by Valeant and other companies. The title of Wednesday's
hearing is "Valeant Pharmaceuticals' Business Model: The
Repercussions for Patients and the Health Care System."
Valeant has faced a series of concerns over its accounting and
business practices in recent months, including its increases in
drug prices, a practice the company has said it generally plans to
curb. Valeant is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange
Commission and other regulators.
Valeant has alleged Mr. Schiller engaged in unspecified
"improper conduct" that contributed to a $58 million mis-booking of
revenue over which the company is planning to restate its past
earnings. Mr. Schiller has denied any wrongdoing and has declined a
request from Valeant's board that he resign as a director. A
representative of Mr. Schiller's couldn't immediately be reached
for comment Tuesday.
Mr. Pearson's leadership and strategy of serial acquisitions of
other drug companies helped make Valeant a market darling until
last year, when q uestions over drug pricing and other issues began
hammering its stock, which is now down more than 85% from its high
in August. Last month, Valeant said Mr. Pearson would depart as
CEO; on Monday, the company named Perrigo Co. CEO Joseph Papa to
replace him.
Mr. Ackman's firm, Pershing Square Capital Management LP, holds
a 9% stake in Valeant; he joined the company's board last month. In
a statement, Mr. Ackman said, "I have accepted an invitation to
speak before the committee and look forward to doing so at the
hearing."
Also slated to testify at Wednesday's hearing are a patient
suffering from Wilson's disease—a disorder treated by Syprine, a
drug made by Valeant—along with a University of Michigan Health
System professor and an Indianapolis physician.
Write to Michael Rapoport at Michael.Rapoport@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 26, 2016 10:05 ET (14:05 GMT)
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