Securities opt-out action against pharmaceutical company
We are funding a large public pension fund in an opt-out securities litigation, pending in Quebec, regarding alleged price gouging and fictitious accounting. Valeant’s share price dropped more than 90% following revelations to the market of the alleged misconduct. The action has been brought pursuant to the Quebec Securities Act and Civil Code of Quebec.
It is alleged that Valeant and its senior insiders used a network of secretly controlled pharmacies, deceptive pricing and reimbursement practices, and fictitious accounting to misrepresent Valeant’s business operations and financial performance. The misconduct enabled Valeant’s senior insiders to sell more than US$15 billion of newly issued Valeant securities to investors at artificially inflated prices and enrich themselves with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of equity awards and compensation payments. Valeant's business model relied on a multitude of deceptive practices designed to induce the purchase of Valeant drugs despite dramatic price increases far beyond industry norms.
As a result, Valeant became the subject of Congressional hearings and investigations by federal prosecutors and the SEC. As these revelations reached the market, the Company suffered a market capitalization decline of nearly US$80 billion. Valeant’s stock price fell from over $260 per share in August 2015 to less than $25 per share by 7 June 2016, inflicting massive losses on investors.