A Valeant Pharmaceutical board member said he would ask that the price of two drugs be lowered by 30 percent, after company executives were called before a Senate Special Committee on Aging Wednesday to explain the skyrocketing cost of established drugs.
The criticism of the drug company's price increases are valid, said new board member William Ackman, CEO and founder Pershing Square Capital Management, a large stakeholder in Valeant.
Ackman told the committee he would propose the price cut during a scheduled call of the board Thursday.
Valeant, along with Turing Pharmaceuticals, has faced scrutiny for buying up established drugs and then increasing the prices.
When Valeant CEO J. Michael Pearson told the committee that the company had lowered the prices of two of the drugs being discussed, Committee Chairman Sen. Susan Collins, R- Maine, said she had called hospitals and found none where that was the case.
Collins asked what specific actions would be taken, and whether the prices would come down.
"Yes, we were too aggressive on pricing," Pearson said. "We're reducing drug prices through Walgreens. But we do have a fair amount of investments."
Pearson mentioned as examples a plant in Rochester, New York, expansion in St. Louis and $400 million invested in research and development.
"(There's) a tradeoff between investments as we consider price decreases," Pearson said.
Since August, Valeant has lost 85 percent of its value, Ackman said,, a supposed reference to the Securities and Exchange Commission investigation of Valeant over alleged misstatements of financial results.
Valeant is undergoing changes to its board of directors and top executives. Pearson, who allegedly violated a committee subpoena to appear earlier, was ousted from Valeant but is continuing to serve as CEO until a replacement is found.
Former CFO and former interim CEO Howard Schiller who appeared before the committee Wednesday, was asked to resign in March and he refused, according to Fortune.
This was the committee's third hearing on drug pricing held since December, to help the members form policy changes to curb the skyrocketing costs to consumers.
During the second hearing on March 17, Turing founder and former CEO Shkreli was escorted out after pleading the Fifth Amendment to all questions.
The four drugs discussed Wednesday were Cuprimine, Syprine, Isuprel and Nitropress. Cuprimine and Syprine are used to treat Wilson's disease, a genetic disorder that causes copper to accumulate in the liver, brain and other organs.
Isuprel and Nitropress treats heart problems such as congestive heart failure; Nitropress treats high blood pressure as well.
Berna Heyman, a retired associate dean of libraries at the College of William and Mary, who has Wilson's disease, gave compelling testimony as to how her co-payment for Syprine rose from $700 a year to over $10,000 after Valeant purchased the drug in 2010.
The drug has been around for about 30 years, Heyman said.
Heyman called Valeant for financial assistance and was denied, but after she had told her story to The Financial Times, the pharmaceutical company contacted her asking how it could help, she said. Valeant also sent flowers.
"I refused the flowers and asked that the sender be informed of my refusal," she said.
In 2014, she switched to another company's drug, one that is not as effective but costs her $480 a year, she said.