CORRECTED-UPDATE 3-U.S. Senate panel probing Valeant, Turing over drug costs

(Corrects paragraph 4 to clarify the September House committee
request was not the initial call for investigation into drug
prices)
By Caroline Humer and Sarah N. Lynch
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, Nov 4 (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel
on Wednesday launched a bipartisan probe into pharmaceutical
pricing, seeking documents from four drugmakers including
Valeant Pharmaceuticals (N:VRX) VRX.TO and Turing Pharmaceuticals,
companies embroiled in controversy over price hikes on
lifesaving drugs.
The Senate's Special Committee on Aging also requested
information from Retrophin Inc RTRX.O and Rodelis
Therapeutics, according to a statement from the panel's
Republican Chairwoman Susan Collins and Claire McCaskill, its
top Democrat.
Also on Wednesday, Democratic members of a U.S. House of
Representatives investigative committee asked Republicans to
call a vote to subpoena Valeant and Turing.
These Democratic leaders called for an investigation of drug
prices in September, emboldened by press reports of a more than
5000 percent overnight increase in a toxoplasmosis drug made by
Turing and a more than 600 percent increase in a blood pressure
treatment from Valeant.
That investigation, along with news that Democratic
Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton found the increases
"outrageous" and the release of her plan to restrict drugmaker
profits, has hurt their stock prices. Drugmakers and their
defenders say drugs are priced to help enable discovery and
development of innovative new treatments.
The effort has not yet been taken up broadly by Republicans.
Investors and analysts have said it would take a wider
bipartisan push to possibly change how drugmakers price their
medicines.
House investigative committee Republican Chairman Jason
Chaffetz, who could authorize an investigation, so far has
blocked it. His spokesperson did not immediately respond to
request for comment.
Retrophin shares fell 14 percent to $18.67 on Nasdaq.
Valeant shares fell over 2 percent to $95.50 on the New York
Stock Exchange.
In a letter to Valeant Chief Executive Mike Pearson (L:PSON), the
Senate committee chairs requested information on sodium drug
Nitropress, which is used to treat high blood pressure. Its
price rose by 625 percent to $1,346.62 per vial on the day
Valeant acquired the drug, the letter said. It also cited an 820
percent increase to $36,811 for 25 pills of heart drug Isuprel
and a 2,949 percent increase to $26,189 for 100 capsules of
Cuprimine for rheumatoid arthritis.
Valeant said it planned to cooperate with the committee on
the inquiry. Drug prices fluctuate due to factors "including the
cost of development and acquisition and complexities in the
health care cost reimbursement system," spokeswoman Laurie
Little said in an emailed statement.
Valeant is already the subject of a probe by federal
prosecutors in New York and Massachusetts into drug pricing and
patient assistance programs, and is also under scrutiny over
separate allegations that it used specialty pharmacies to pad
its revenue. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N12F3PM urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N12L1OH
The Senate committee also sent a letter to Retrophin
requesting information about Thiola, a drug that treats kidney
disease, and whose price rose to $30 per tablet from $1.50 after
Retrophin acquired licensing rights.
"Pharmaceutical pricing that strikes the right balance
between affordability and enabling innovation is an issue of
legitimate concern for patients and the industry," Retrophin
director of investor relations Chris Cline said in an emailed
statement. The company said it was focused on developing its
pipeline of drugs rather than acquiring and re-marketing old
therapies.
The Senate committee also said it wanted to hear more about
Turing's Daraprim, an anti-infective drug used to treat
toxoplasmosis among other diseases. Earlier this year Turing
raised the price on the drug overnight to $750 per pill from
$13.50.
Turing did not immediately comment on Wednesday's probe. In
September Turing said it would cut the price of Daraprim, but
has not yet done so. The New York state attorney general's
office is also investigating Turing over whether its Daraprim
price increases violated antitrust rules.
"The sudden, aggressive price hikes for a variety of drugs
used widely for decades affect patients and health care
providers and the overall cost of health care," Collins said in
a statement, adding that the Senate committee is probing the
increases given the potential harm to patients.