VRX - Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.

[cogitator8]

Picasso I meant.

[Picasso]

Thanks I'll send an e-mail to that doctor and see where this goes.

[KCLarkin]

BTW, I have 15+ years of track record of investing and have read more annual reports than you can count. Value Investing is a scientific are and so is medicine, Graham noted in one of his letters  that a physician can be a very good investor due to their ability to calulate odds and develop deep analytical thinking. So i dont know what you do for living but try to be respectful of other professional, in my case I have dual professions !

 

Are you troubled that your quoted research study was funded by this organization?

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/military/article/Was-San-Antonio-foundation-a-sham-1469557.php

 

I guess we know why there was no follow-up study.

[Picasso]

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

 

    amehta@simplycare.net

 

Technical details of permanent failure:

Google tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the server for the recipient domain simplycare.net by simplycare.net. [69.174.48.228].

 

The error that the other server returned was:

550 No Such User Here"

 

You got any explanation for that buddy?

[moustachio]

http://www.simplycare.net/providers/

He believes correct diagnosis is essential for right treatment and he always try to do that

 

He is probably a doctor who doesn't have great English skills. I don't necessarily blame you guys for questioning that he is a doctor(the same thought occurred to me), but we don't want to get too far off-topic here. After all, we don't want to clutter up this 340 page thread.

[rpadebet]

http://www.simplycare.net/providers/

He believes correct diagnosis is essential for right treatment and he always try to do that

 

He is probably a doctor who doesn't have great English skills. I don't necessarily blame you guys for questioning that he is a doctor(the same thought occurred to me), but we don't want to get too far off-topic here. After all, we don't want to clutter up this 340 page thread.

 

Dude...where were you 339 pages ago...

 

I am thinking of opening a vrx-Bulls thread, a vrx-bears thread and a vrx - newbies thread. Just to promote more structured discussions.

[KCLarkin]

Not to be a conspiracy buff, but McCaskill seems to be remarkably in sync with short sellers.

http://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/20151026McCaskillLettertoValeant.pdf

 

[ccplz]

Not to be a conspiracy buff, but McCaskill seems to be remarkably in sync with short sellers.

http://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/20151026McCaskillLettertoValeant.pdf

 

Yeah actually McCaskill's real name is John Hempton and she runs Citron Research when the senate is not in session.

[tripleoptician]

I am a physician and have no dog in this fight. I thought I might post the full report on "Onchomycosis" for those inclined to read. I've cut out the epidemiology/diagnosis/clinical featueres sections for brevity. This is from UpToDate, which as mentioned earlier, has emerged as the top medical reference for physicians and has great influence on prescribing practices. Most physicians would skip to the "Summary and Recommendations" section, which will note Lamisil is the treatment of choice, while Jublia is mentioned only briefly in the "Emerging Therapy" section. The recommendations are from experts in their field that can document no industry bias prior to joining research/writing committees for UpToDate.

 

 

INTRODUCTION — Onychomycosis refers to nail infections caused by any fungus, including yeasts and nondermatophyte molds. Dermatophytic onychomycosis (tinea unguium) occurs in three main forms: distal subungual, proximal subungual, and white superficial. One or several of the toenails or fingernails may be involved, seldom all. Most affected individuals have or have had tinea pedis as well. Most toenail onychomycosis is due to dermatophytes; however, many cases of fingernail onychomycosis are due to yeast.

 

This topic will review the diagnosis and management of onychomycosis. Skin infections due to dermatophytes and yeast are discussed separately. (See "Dermatophyte (tinea) infections" and "Candidal intertrigo".)

 

 

TREATMENT — Treatment of most forms of onychomycosis is similar. Traditional topical therapies are generally ineffective for clearing the primary infection [30], and even oral therapy is associated with a high rate of initial treatment failure or recurrence. Nevertheless, treatment is often indicated in documented cases because of the morbidity associated with the infection and when there are specific comorbidities such as diabetes.

 

When patients desire or need therapy, we suggest initial treatment of dermatophyte onychomycosis with oral terbinafine since data suggest it has greater efficacy than the alternatives and fewer serious side effects. Other options may be preferable in some patients, however, based on local costs of therapy or the desire to treat with pulse therapy in patients who wish to limit the total intake of pills.

 

Oral itraconazole appears to be a more effective initial agent for treatment of nondermatophyte mold onychomycosis and yeast onychomycosis. It is used in the same dose regimens as that used for dermatophyte onychomycosis. (See 'Treatment of yeast and mold onychomycosis' below.)

 

Indications — We suggest treating onychomycosis in:

 

●Patients with a history of cellulitis, especially if repeated, of the lower extremity who have ipsilateral toenail onychomycosis.

 

 

●Patients with diabetes and toenail onychomycosis who have additional risk factors for cellulitis (ie, prior cellulitis, venous insufficiency, edema) [15]. (See "Cellulitis and erysipelas", section on 'Clinical manifestations'.)

 

 

●Patients who are experiencing discomfort/pain associated with infected nails [12-14].

 

 

●Patients who desire treatment for cosmetic reasons.

 

 

Oral therapy

 

Efficacy — Medications such as terbinafine and itraconazole appear to have higher rates of cure in head-to-head randomized trials than griseofulvin [31-34]. Although used more in the past, results with long-term oral griseofulvin treatment have been disappointing.

 

Fluconazole, 150 to 300 mg once weekly has also been found to be effective in patients with onychomycosis and may be particularly useful in patients with complicated medication regimens [35]. However, head-to-head comparisons have not found once weekly fluconazole to be as effective or as cost-effective as itraconazole and terbinafine [36-38].

 

A meta-analysis found the following mycological cure rates for dermatophyte onychomycosis in randomized controlled trials [39]:

 

●Terbinafine (76 ± 3 percent)

 

 

●Itraconazole pulse therapy (63 ± 7 percent)

 

 

●Griseofulvin (60 ± 6 percent)

 

 

●Itraconazole continuous therapy (59 ± 5 percent)

 

 

●Fluconazole (48 ± 5 percent)

 

 

Clinical cure rates are more difficult to assess across trials, since complete resolution of nail changes in a slow-growing toenail may require follow-up of more than 12 months, even when fungal infection has been eliminated. Trials have been of varying lengths and used varying definitions of cure. Reported mean clinical response rates for various oral therapies in published trials have been generally similar to mean mycological cure rates, however higher and lower rates have been found for individual agents [39]. One randomized trial with clear outcomes defined clinical cure as 100 percent toenail clearing [40]. This trial found that 60 percent of patients treated with 16 weeks of terbinafine had achieved clinical cure when assessed at 72 weeks, which is somewhat lower than the 76 percent mean mycological cure rate seen in the meta-analysis.

 

Recurrence is common, particularly after treating toenails, and there is some evidence that griseofulvin has higher recurrence rates and lower clinical cure rates than might be expected from the initial mycological cure rate [33].

 

Although continuous itraconazole and terbinafine appear to have similar efficacy in short-term studies (up to one year) [41,42], long-term cure rates appear to be better with terbinafine [43,44], and terbinafine has fewer drug-drug interactions. A systematic review found that mycologic cure rates were better with terbinafine than itraconazole, but there was no adequate assessment of clinical cure [45]. A randomized, double-blind trial reported that terbinafine was more effective than itraconazole pulse therapy on measures of long-term clinical outcomes [46]. A randomized trial with 18 month follow-up also found that continuous terbinafine was more effective than pulse terbinafine [47]. There is some evidence that patients find continuous therapy easier and more convenient than pulse therapy [48].

 

Posaconazole, a newer oral broad spectrum antifungal agent, may be another effective treatment option for patients with onychomycosis. In a phase II randomized trial (n = 218), posaconazole oral suspension (100 mg, 200 mg, or 400 mg daily for 24 weeks or 400 mg once daily for 12 weeks) was compared with terbinafine (250 mg daily for 12 weeks) and placebo [49]. At the 48-week assessment, all dose regimens of posaconazole were superior to placebo. The best results with posaconazole were obtained when patients were given 200 mg or 400 mg daily for 24 weeks (54 and 46 percent complete cured, respectively); the cure rates in these groups did not differ significantly from the terbinafine group (37 percent cured). Adverse event rates were similar among the groups.

 

The high cost of posaconazole favors the preferred use of terbinafine in patients with onychomycosis. However, posaconazole appears to be an emerging, additional treatment option.

 

Patients should be advised that due to binding of the antimycotic drug to keratin in the nail and continued exposure of fungus to medication, improvement will continue after oral therapy has stopped; it may take 9 to 12 months to fully assess cure. Repeat courses of therapy can be tried if the patient experiences a recurrence.

 

Dosing — While dosage schedules have not yet been settled, the following schedules are commonly used:

 

●Terbinafine:

 

 

•For fingernails – 250 mg daily by mouth for six weeks

 

 

•For toenails – 250 mg daily by mouth for 12 weeks

 

 

●Itraconazole:

 

 

•Fixed dosage

 

 

For fingernails – 200 mg daily by mouth for six weeks

 

For toenails – 200 mg daily by mouth for 12 weeks

 

 

•Pulse therapy

 

 

For fingernails – 200 mg twice daily by mouth for one week per month for two months

 

For toenails – 200 mg twice daily by mouth for one week per month for three months

 

 

Pediatric dosing options include [50]:

 

●Fluconazole 3 to 6 mg/kg one dose per week (12 to 16 weeks for fingernails; 18 to 26 weeks for toenails)

 

 

●Itraconazole daily for one week per month (two months therapy for fingernails; three months therapy for toenails):

 

 

•Less than 20 kg: 5 mg/kg daily

 

 

•20 to 40 kg: 100 mg daily

 

 

•40 to 50 kg: 200 mg daily

 

 

•More than 50 kg: 200 mg twice daily

 

 

●Terbinafine (six weeks for fingernails; 12 weeks for toenails):

 

 

•10 to 20 kg: 62.5 mg daily

 

 

•20 to 40 kg: 125 mg daily

 

 

•Above 40 kg: 250 mg daily

 

 

Safety and monitoring — Terbinafine is an allylamine and is primarily fungicidal. It is an inhibitor of CYP2D6, but this generally results in less important drug-drug interactions than inhibitors of CYP3A4. Itraconazole and fluconazole are triazoles that are primarily fungistatic. They are inhibitors of CYP3A4.

 

Side effects requiring discontinuation of therapy are uncommon with all three medications and discontinuation is somewhat less frequent with pulse or intermittent therapy than with continuous therapy (table 1) [51]. It is important to review a patient's medication list before prescribing itraconazole since a number of serious drug interactions have been reported.

 

All three medications can cause hepatotoxicity, and have low but similar rates of aminotransferase elevations requiring discontinuation of therapy (table 2) [51]. Routine monitoring of liver function tests during therapy may not be necessary in patients without underlying liver disease, although many clinicians routinely obtain pretreatment values and check an additional set midway through treatment for patients taking the medications for longer periods of time.

 

The manufacturer of terbinafine recommends checking pretreatment serum aminotransferases and monitoring for potential symptoms of hepatotoxicity during treatment. Given the recommendation from the manufacturer, we suggest this monitoring in patients receiving oral terbinafine. We also suggest such monitoring in patients treated with continuous itraconazole or fluconazole. We do not suggest checking serum aminotransferases in patients without underlying liver disease who are treated with once weekly fluconazole or pulse itraconazole.

 

Emerging therapy — Albaconazole is a broad spectrum oral antifungal agent that is not yet commercially available. A phase II randomized trial that found that albaconazole was more effective than placebo for distal subungual onychomycosis suggests that this drug may be a future treatment option for onychomycosis [52].

 

Topical therapy — Antifungal agents formulated as lacquers facilitate the local delivery of antifungal medication into the nail [53,54]. Two antifungal nail lacquers, ciclopirox and amorolfine, have been utilized for treatment of onychomycosis. Topical antifungal creams are generally considered to be poorly effective for onychomycosis due to poor penetration of the nail plate [53,55,56].

 

Ciclopirox — A topical antifungal nail lacquer containing ciclopirox is available for the treatment of mild to moderate onychomycosis that does not involve the nail matrix (ie, spares the lunula) [57].

 

Combined results from two randomized, controlled trials suggest that complete resolution occurs in approximately 7 percent of treated patients compared with 0.4 percent using placebo [58]. Thus, only 1 of 15 patients who use the lacquer will have a favorable outcome despite prolonged use, and recurrence is common after stopping therapy. A small randomized trial suggested that the likelihood of response to topical ciclopirox may be better in children; however, additional studies are necessary to confirm this finding [59].

 

Randomized trials have also looked at the efficacy of ciclopirox in combination with oral terbinafine [60,61]. No greater clinical efficacy was found than with terbinafine alone. The studies reported higher rates of mycological cure with combination therapy; however, this was assessed while the patients were still being treated with topical ciclopirox, which may have affected the ability to detect persistent fungal infection.

 

The lacquer is applied once daily to the affected nail, 5 mm of surrounding skin, and to the nail bed, hyponychium, and undersurface of the nail plate if possible. The nail is wiped clean with alcohol once weekly, and the unattached infected part of the nail is removed periodically. Treatment is continued until nail clearance or up to 48 weeks [55].

 

Ciclopirox is apparently safe [21], and can be prescribed for patients who are felt to be at high risk for complications of oral therapy. Due to the low likelihood of treatment success, we generally recommend not using topical ciclopirox for onychomycosis. Higher treatment success rates have been reported with topical amorolfine.

 

Amorolfine — Amorolfine is a topical antifungal agent with activity against dermatophytes, yeasts, dimorphic fungi, and a variety of filamentous and dematiaceous fungi [62]. The drug is not available in the United States.

 

Amorolfine nail lacquer has been used as monotherapy for the treatment of onychomycosis sparing the nail matrix (ie, lunula). The drug is applied once weekly after the surface of the nail is filed with a disposable file and wiped with alcohol. In two randomized trials, once weekly application of amorolfine 5% nail lacquer for six months led to both clinical and mycological cure in 38 and 46 percent of patients [63,64].

 

Amorolfine has also been shown to increase cure rates when used in combination with oral antifungals [65]. In a randomized, open-label trial comparing terbinafine (250 mg/day for three months) plus amorolfine (once weekly for 12 months) versus terbinafine alone, patients who received combination therapy were more likely to achieve both clinical and mycologic cure (59 versus 45 percent) [66].

 

Thus, for patients with onychomycosis sparing the nail matrix who are not candidates for oral antifungal therapy, treatment with amorolfine is a reasonable alternative. The drug also appears to be useful as an adjunct to oral antifungals, although further studies are necessary to determine which patients should be treated with combination therapy.

 

Iontophoresis — Iontophoretic drug delivery, in which a low electrical current is used to enhance the absorption of topical medications, may have promise for improving the efficacy of topical antifungal treatment [67-69]. In a small, unblinded randomized trial that compared treatment of toenail onychomycosis with topical terbinafine plus iontophoresis to topical terbinafine alone, combination therapy appeared to increase the likelihood for new healthy nail growth [67]. Additional studies are necessary to determine the role of iontophoresis in the treatment of onychomycosis.

 

Medicated chest rub — There are few data on the efficacy of a medicated chest rub containing eucalyptus oil, camphor, menthol, thymol, oil of turpentine, oil of nutmeg, and oil of cedar leaf (eg, Vicks VapoRub) in the treatment of onychomycosis. In a series of 18 patients who were instructed to apply this type of medicated chest rub to affected nails daily for 48 weeks, four patients (22 percent) achieved both clinical and mycological cure [70]. Improvement in a minority of patients was also reported in a retrospective chart review; clinical clearance of onychomycosis was documented within 5 to 16 months in 32 out of 85 patients (38 percent) who agreed to apply a generic formulation of a medicated chest rub to the nails daily [71].

 

Although use of medicated chest rubs and similar products is unlikely to be harmful, additional studies that support their efficacy in onychomycosis are necessary before treatment with these agents can be recommended.

 

Emerging therapy — Newer topical antifungal therapies developed for the treatment of onychomycosis include efinaconazole and tavaborole.

 

Efinaconazole — Efinaconazole 10% solution, a topical triazole antifungal agent, is a new treatment option for onychomycosis. In June 2014, efinaconazole solution was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of onychomycosis of the toenails due to T. rubrum and T. mentagrophytes. The drug is expected to become available for clinical use in 2014.

 

The efficacy of efinaconazole for onychomycosis was demonstrated in two phase III multicenter randomized trials (n = 870 and n = 785) in which patients with distal lateral subungual onychomycosis were randomized in a 3 to 1 ratio to treatment with efinaconazole or vehicle once daily for 48 weeks [72]. Four weeks after the end of treatment, complete cure (0 percent clinical involvement and mycologic cure) was achieved by 18 and 15 percent of patients treated with efinaconazole compared with only 3 and 6 percent of patients treated with vehicle.

 

Tavaborole — Tavaborole is an oxaborole antifungal agent. Tavaborole 5% solution was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of onychomycosis of the toenails due to T. rubrum and T. mentagrophytes in July 2014. Availability of tavaborole for clinical use is expected to occur in 2014.

 

The efficacy of tavaborole was evaluated in two multicenter randomized trials in which a total of 1194 patients with onychomycosis applied tavaborole 5% solution or vehicle once daily for 48 weeks. Patients in the study had 20 to 60 percent involvement of the target toenail and lacked both clinical evidence of a dermatophytoma (linear white or yellow band in the nail that may represent a dense mass of fungal hyphae) and involvement of the lunula [73]. In one trial, 7 percent of patients treated with tavaborole achieved both clinical and mycologic cure after treatment compared with only 1 percent of patients in the vehicle group. In the second trial, these rates were 9 and 2 percent, respectively.

 

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

 

●Onychomycosis refers to nail infections caused by any fungus, including yeasts and nondermatophyte molds. (See 'Introduction' above.)

 

 

●Dermatophytic onychomycosis (tinea unguium) occurs in three distinct forms: distal subungual; proximal subungual; and white superficial. Distal subungual onychomycosis is most common and is generally caused by Trichophyton rubrum. (See 'Clinical manifestations' above and 'Epidemiology and microbiology' above.)

 

 

●It is important to establish a diagnosis of onychomycosis prior to treatment. Nail dystrophies, often clinically indistinguishable from onychomycosis, can occur with psoriasis, eczematous conditions, senile ischemia (onychogryphosis), trauma, iron deficiency, and lichen planus. Most studies have found that onychomycosis is responsible for only 50 to 60 percent of abnormal appearing nails. (See 'Diagnosis' above.)

 

 

●We suggest potassium hydroxide (KOH) examination of scrapings of the nail bed to diagnose distal subungual onychomycosis and of the white spots on the nail plate to diagnose white superficial onychomycosis. Nail culture or pathologic examination of the nail plate with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining should be performed if the KOH examination is negative and a diagnosis of onychomycosis is suspected. Pathologic examination of the nail plate is more sensitive and faster than nail culture, but is more costly. (See 'Diagnosis' above.)

 

 

●A nail plate biopsy with PAS staining or partial or full nail removal with culture is needed for the diagnosis of proximal subungual onychomycosis. (See 'Diagnosis' above.)

 

 

●Patients who desire treatment should be warned that treatment failures and recurrences are common, particularly for toenail onychomycosis. (See 'Treatment failure' above and 'Recurrence' above.)

 

 

●Onychomycosis is most often treated to relieve pain from infected nails or for cosmetic reasons. We also suggest treating toenail onychomycosis in patients with a history of ipsilateral lower extremity cellulitis and in patients with diabetes who have additional risk factors for cellulitis (ie, prior cellulitis, venous insufficiency, edema) (Grade 2C). (See 'Indications' above.)

 

 

●In patients who desire or need therapy for dermatophyte onychomycosis, or where the fungal species causing onychomycosis has not been identified, we suggest initial treatment with oral terbinafine (Grade 2B). Fingernail onychomycosis is typically treated for six weeks and toenail onychomycosis for 12 weeks with terbinafine 250 mg daily. We suggest that patients who desire or need therapy for yeast onychomycosis or nondermatophyte mold onychomycosis be treated with itraconazole (Grade 2C). (See 'Treatment' above.)

 

 

●We suggest checking baseline serum aminotransferases before patients are treated with oral terbinafine or with continuous oral therapy with itraconazole or fluconazole (Grade 2C). We suggest NOT checking aminotransferases in patients receiving once weekly fluconazole or pulse itraconazole (Grade 2C). (See 'Safety and monitoring' above.)

 

 

●When a patient does not respond despite a confirmed diagnosis of onychomycosis, and treatment is still desired, we suggest switching to an alternative oral agent or referring the patient to a dermatologist (Grade 2C). (See 'Treatment failure' above.)

 

 

[original mungerville]

OK guys, we don't need to discuss the toenail stuff anymore. I think a focus on that Matt Levine article on Bloomberg would be a healthier use of our collective time because it summarizes the situation well.

[giofranchi]

The shorts are preying on your emotions. The company is responding with facts. Emotions will win:

 

Is this a tweet of yours?

If not are you on twitter?

 

Thank you,

 

Gio

[giofranchi]

I think I am adding some today.

 

Cheers,

 

Gio

[original mungerville]

I think I am adding some today.

 

Cheers,

 

Gio

 

I am wondering what is giving you more conviction today? Price?

 

I think they will probably cut ties (or try to cut ties) with Philidor if Philidor broke any laws. Although I do think there is a strong argument that Valeant effectively (although not technically) already owns Philidor and by extension R&O as per this summary of the situation:

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-10-26/valeant-s-pharmacy-relationships-were-complicated?cmpid=yhoo.headline

 

However, the best counter-argument to that article and Valeant's effective control of R&O is that the R&O vs Valeant legal battle actually is a great example, in practice, of how Valeant does not control R&O (and by extension, arguably, does not control Philidor).

 

I guess worse case, Valeant is charged with a fine (if it is deemed by the courts to effectively own Philidor or have known about Philidor's practices and partook in them), hopefully only by CA and not several other states. Given this is relatively recent strong business growth through this channel, I would imagine that the damages have to be limited given the cumulative volume of product and sales through the channel (relative to Valeant's size) would be small.

 

 

 

 

[original mungerville]

Ackman to talk Valeant on his Friday call (whoever gets the link to this call, or call info, on Friday, please post!):

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-27/top-valeant-holder-bill-ackman-to-discuss-investment-on-call?cmpid=yhoo.headline

 

[Guest Grey512]

Ballsy move by Ackman to have a call. Respect. Interested to see how the call will unfold.

 

Still think it was irresponsible for Ackman to double-down and buy more VRX when he did, though.

 

[ZenaidaMacroura]

Ballsy move by Ackman to have a call. Respect. Interested to see how the call will unfold.

 

Still think it was irresponsible for Ackman to double-down and buy more VRX when he did, though.

I wonder how VRX management feels about Ackman appointing himself to their PR team?

[giofranchi]

I am wondering what is giving you more conviction today? Price?

 

OM,

First of all yesterday presentation showed that sales at VRX are recorded properly. That was important for me. Also the stock price is a very attractive one to average down.

 

This being said, you know how I invest by now: I think we all have very limited information about a business we don’t manage personally in an industry in which we don’t work on a daily basis. Therefore, I look for very high quality businesses (high net margins, low cyclicality, ample opportunities for growth, a competition that is not too fierce, etc.) led by great capital allocators. Why the combination of the two? Because very high quality businesses have a good probability of growing organically, and with a great capital allocator they also have a good probability of growing through acquisitions. This imo is the definition of the fastest growing business that could be found in the stock market (with some predictability at least!). Finally, I hope I can recognize an attractive price, when I see one.

Then I accept my risks: if I have chosen the wrong horse, business results going forward will be disappointing and my investment will be proven a poor one. Period. I accept this without any problem.

 

I leave sophisticated analysis both on the long side and on the short side to other board members! Nor do I try to outsmart a manager with a fantastic track record: “he should do this”, “he should do that”, “he is not investing wisely”, etc. … I think everyone is entitled to have his/her opinions … I just don’t see why those opinions should be taken more seriously than Pearson’s or other operators which have proven to be highly successful in the past.

 

What I had an hard time to deal with was the accusation of fraud… VRX is the first company I have owned which was publicly accused of fraud… The lesson imo is a manager should care for reputation a lot! And we should invest with people who understand how much reputation truly counts in business. Pearson imo has never been very focused on his reputation… And now he is paying the price of that mistake, together with every other shareholder! I’ll keep monitoring how he deals with his and VRX’s reputation going forward very closely. I hope he takes a lesson in this regard from Buffett of course, but also from people like Watsa and Leonard.

 

Cheers,

 

Gio

 

[KCLarkin]

The shorts are preying on your emotions. The company is responding with facts. Emotions will win:

 

Is this a tweet of yours?

If not are you on twitter?

 

Thank you,

 

Gio

 

No and no. Marc Cahodes is an infamous short seller. He appears to be friendly with Roddy Boyd and Left. He is not involved directly in VRX but there was some chatter before the bear raid. I like to keep tabs on the shorts. Unlike Left, Marc seems smart.

[cmlber]

I don't think anyone has posted this yet, but Novartis settled a $3.4 billion suit with the US for $390 million today.  The settlement relates to Novartis' supposed practice of paying kickbacks to specialty pharmacies over a 10 year period from 2004 to 2013 in the form of rebates to encourage them to recommend refills of a specific drug for Medicaid and Medicare patients. 

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/27/novartis-results-idUSL8N12R0GW20151027

 

So even if Valeant did something wrong (which so far it appears they did not), are we talking about something worth the $13 billion in market cap that it lost since the Citron report?

[TonyG]

OM, the link is on the pershing square holdings web site.

 

https://www.pscmevents.com/conference-call-webcast/

[ERICOPOLY]

The shorts are preying on your emotions. The company is responding with facts. Emotions will win:

 

Is this a tweet of yours?

If not are you on twitter?

 

Thank you,

 

Gio

 

No and no. Marc Cahodes is an infamous short seller. He appears to be friendly with Roddy Boyd and Left. He is not involved directly in VRX but there was some chatter before the bear raid. I like to keep tabs on the shorts. Unlike Left, Marc seems smart.

 

I had forgotten about Marc Cahodes.  Ah yes, memories:  http://archive.fortune.com/2008/10/10/news/economy/river_boyd.fortune/index.htm

 

[giofranchi]

No and no.

 

Ok. Thank you.

 

Gio

[Liberty]

Anyone else getting a really queasy feeling when Roddy Boyd, who's clearly working with the other shorts, writes under the name 'Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation' and gets quoted as that elsewhere? Maybe next Andrew Left can rebrand as the 'Public Foundation for Truth and Common Good' or something.

[Liberty]

I had forgotten about Marc Cahodes.  Ah yes, memories:  http://archive.fortune.com/2008/10/10/news/economy/river_boyd.fortune/index.htm

 

Well, look at who wrote that article...

[merkhet]

More from Matt Levine. (As a side note, if you're not getting his daily e-mails to your inbox, you're missing out on some fantastic and humorous finance writing.)

 

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-10-27/bad-bonuses-and-a-hedge-fund-priest

 

Me yesterday.

 

I wrote about Valeant and Philidor. I worry that I was a little too broad in saying "If you have an option to buy a thing for zero dollars, you own the thing." That is true if the thing is a limited-liability thing -- as corporate stock (theoretically) is -- but actual ownership tends to bring the risk of liabilities that the option (theoretically) avoids. My point was something like: The option structure was meant to avoid the liabilities of actual ownership, but may not have been entirely successful in doing so.