Shares of Riot Blockchain are shrugging off the news that short seller Andrew Left's company, Citron Research, has initiated a position against the company. They're trading up 33.5% near $38 apiece on Monday.
Enforcement Report - Week of April 19, 2017
Maryland lawmakers on Monday sent a bill that would seek to increase transparency and prevent generic drug price gouging to Gov. Larry Hogan (R) for his signature.
Thursday in New York, former Valeant senior director Gary Tanner and former CEO of now-dead specialty pharmacy Philidor, Andrew Davenport, pleaded not guilty to charges from federal prosecutors, Reuters reported. The pair was indicted on four counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The companies accused of price fixing include Aurobindo Pharma USA, Citron Pharma, Heritage Pharmaceuticals, Mayne Pharma, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, and Mylan Pharmaceuticals, which has come under fire for an unrelated increase in the cost of its EpiPen, used for severe allergic reactions. The Justice Department also charged two former executives at Heritage with price fixing.
US DoJ last week filed the first charges in the drug pricing probe. We expect this to be the first of many a investigation to span most of the sector. Companies will likely pay fines commensurate with the benefits earned. Sun Pharma is the most at risk in our view. The investigations will also have significant impact on the sector over the medium term, with price hikes highly unlikely going forward and possibly increased price competition.
The generic drug makers include Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc, Aurobindo Pharma USA, Citron Pharma, Mayne Pharma (USA), Mylan Pharmaceuticals and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA. Shares of Aurobindo Pharma fell by nearly 4% to R691 on BSE following the report.
Twenty state attorneys general sued a group of generic-drug companies Thursday, accusing them of colluding to fix prices on an antibiotic and a diabetes medication, in violation of federal antitrust law. The suit comes a day after price-fixing charges against former executives at one of the drugmakers were unsealed in a Justice Department antitrust probe.
The former chief executive and former president of generic drug company Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc. have been charged with conspiring to fix prices, the first charges in a continuing Justice Department antitrust probe.
When short seller Andrew Left of Citron Research characterized DuPont spinoff Chemours as a company “purposely designed for bankruptcy” and “a zero” in early June, his comments sent the NYSE-listed company tumbling over 20%. After all, less than a year ago, Left caused an almost crippling investor stampede from Valeant Pharmaceuticals VRX +0.88% when he published a report accusing the drugmaker of being “Enron part Deux.”