Oct 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is
looking into whether Canadian drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals (N:VRX)
International Inc VRX.TO VRX.N illegally cornered the market
for a key material used to make rigid contact lenses, ProPublica
reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Valeant said on Monday it had received a letter from the FTC
on or about Oct. 16 seeking more information about Valeant's
recent acquisition of Paragon Vision Sciences, which produceses
a material used to make gas permeable lenses.
ProPublica, a non-profit newsroom that produces
investigative journalism, quoted the president of an industry
trade group as saying the acquisition of Paragon and Bausch &
Lomb had given Valeant control over 85 to 90 percent of the
supply chain for such lenses.
Valeant said earlier this month that it had been subpoenaed
by U.S. prosecutors seeking information on its pricing
decisions, drug distribution and patient assistance programs.
The company has come under intense scrutiny for increasing
drug prices. The New York Times also reported last week that
Valeant and other drugmakers were using specialty drug
distributors to circumvent barriers to raise prices.
Valeant's shares went into a tailspin last week after
short-seller Citron Research said Valeant was using specialty
pharmacies to inflate its revenue.
The company denied the allegation and asked the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission to look into Citron.
Valeant's U.S.-listed shares were up 1.4 percent at $111.64
in early trading on Tuesday. Up to Monday's close, the stock had
lost about 38 percent of its value since Oct. 14 when the
company disclosed that it had received a federal subpoena.
The company's Toronto-listed stock was up 1 percent at
C$146.78.