Federal prosecutors are filing criminal charges against former executives of Valeant Pharmaceuticals and a mail-order pharmacy it helped to establish as the backlash against skyrocketing drug prices grows.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan on Thursday released a complaint against ex-Valeant executive Gary Tanner and Andrew Davenport, who ran the now-defunct Philidor mail-order pharmacy, outlining charges of wire fraud and conspiracy in an alleged scheme to bilk Valeant out of tens of millions of dollars.
The complaint states that Tanner and Davenport conspired to enrich themselves with Valeant funds. It alleges that Tanner was employed by Valeant to head its “access solutions team,” which worked to get patients’ insurers to cover brand-name Valeant medicines instead of much-cheaper generic ones.
But according to the complaint, Tanner focused on building up Philidor’s business, worked at its Hatboro, Pennsylvania, offices and ultimately received a $10 million kickback from Davenport, who helped found Philidor and served as its chief executive. In exchange, Tanner allegedly facilitated transactions that brought Davenport more than $40 million.
Philidor was shut down early this year amid an investigation of irregularities in reporting of its financial dealings with Valeant.