LAVAL, Que. – Valeant Pharmaceuticals says 2015 is shaping up to be more profitable than its previous estimates.
The Quebec-based company, which is the target of a U.S. Congressional probe over its pricing practices, is now projecting at least US$11.67 per share of cash earnings for the full year, up from the previous estimate of US$11.50.
Valeant shares have taken a beating from the impact of U.S. investigations into its drug pricing and its patient assistance program. It revealed last Wednesday that U.S. Attorney’s offices in Massachusetts and New York had received court orders for the company to produce documents.
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Chairman and chief executive J. Michael Pearson has said the company will co-operate with the investigations but the company believes it has operated “in a fully compliant manner.”
The drugmaker is one of Canada’s top companies by market capitalization and accounts for about 4.23 per cent of the S&P/TSX composite index.
The U.S. Congress became interested in Valeant following its purchase of the heart drugs Nitropress and Isuprel and subsequently increasing the price for both dramatically. The drugs are administered in hospitals as part of a larger treatment protocol.
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