Andrew Left On Valeant: ‘Eliminating Price Gouging’ Likely Sole Agreement Between Presidential Nominees

Courtesy of Benzinga.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is probably one of the main people responsible for Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE: VRX)’s recent ailment – it was largely her words that spurred the 74 percent decline in the company’s sales year-to-date. In addition, a few months ago, the presidential candidate pledged she would go after the company for “predatory pricing” on a number of drugs it had acquired from other biopharmaceutical firms.

In this context, one might assume the Canadian company’s CEO Joseph Papa is a supporter of the Republican nominee, Donald Trump. However, a Trump win would not help the company either, as its U.S. footprint and reliance on Medicare revenue are especially high. Furthermore, Trump is widely known as the antithesis of the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”).

Andrew Left On Trump & Clinton

Another person in the center of the Valeant controversy is Citron Research’s executive editor Andrew Left. Earlier this year, the analyst compared the company with Enron, citing accounting irregularities.

Related Link: Exclusive: Meet One Pharma CEO Who’s Doing Something To Bring Down Drug Prices

On Monday, Left talked with The Street’s “Real Money” and shared his take of the situation with Valeant and the presidential race. “Regulating the price of pharmaceuticals and eliminating price gouging might be the only issue that Trump and Hillary both agree on,” he stated.

“What we see with Mylan NV (NASDAQ: MYL) post-Valeant, is that this is not going away fast,” Left continued. “I think that people understand the fact that this is not over.”

Shares of Valeant traded down more than 6 percent on Monday afternoon.

Full ratings data available on Benzinga Pro.

Do you have ideas for articles/interviews you’d like to see more of on Benzinga? Please email feedback@benzinga.com with your best article ideas. One person will be randomly selected to win a $20 Amazon gift card!

Disclosure: Javier Hasse holds no interest in any of the securities or entities mentioned above.

Posted-In: Analyst Color Biotech News Short Sellers Health Care Politics Analyst Ratings Movers Best of Benzinga