UPDATE: Valeant Releases Details On Hospital Discount Plan For Heart Drugs

Amid criticism over Valeant’s failure to deliver on promised hospital discounts for two of their heart drugs, the company has released the details of its rebate program for Isuprel and Nitropress. While these volume-based discounts were announced earlier this year, the company has faced considerable criticism from Congress over drug pricing and patient access.

According to a statement released by Valeant, all hospitals will be eligible to receive a 10 percent rebate on the heart drugs, with some high volume centers benefitted from as much as a 40 percent discount. Valeant’s new Patient Access and Pricing committee has also vowed to neither increase the price of the drugs, nor decrease the discounts available.

While this is welcome news to hospital pharmacy administrators, Valeant has already raised the price of Isuprel and Nitropress by 720 percent and 310 percent, respectively, since acquiring the drugs in early 2015. Representatives from Valeant appeared in front of the Senate Aging Committee on April 27, where they were confronted by senators regarding the lack of hospitals that had received the discounts.

With the release of the statement earlier this week, it looks like Valeant is making strides to ensure hospitals get the drugs at reduced prices. According to the company, the discounts will likely be offered to group purchasing organizations as opposed to directly dealing with individual hospitals.

“Under this new program, the discounts we previously implemented for Nitropress and Isuprel will be simplified and more accessible,” said Joseph Papa, CEO of Valeant. “I understand the concerns our partners in the health care community have had about the pricing of these drugs, and we want to ensure hospitals and patients can get the drugs they need.

“I also want to thank the Senate Committee on Aging and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for the attention they have brought to this issue, and specifically to gaps they identified in the previous program,” said Papa. “We are committed to getting this right.”