Valeant Phramaceuticals is defending its drug discount program for two expensive heart drugs against reports that hospitals are not seeing any savings. The Canadian drugmaker said the program will cover more than 90 percent of the costs for U.S. hospitals, once all deals with group purchasing organizations are finalized, reported Reuters.
On Friday, Valeant said that group purchasing organizations would provide hospitals with upfront discounts or volume-based rebates at the end of a quarter after purchases of Nitropress of Isuprel were made, according to the report.
"Hospital representatives who were quoted in press reports that they are 'paying the same high price' are likely not taking end of quarter rebates into account," Valeant said, responding to a Bloomberg report that said hospitals are not receiving discounts.
Valeant promised to boost hospital discounts for the heart drugs by as much as 40 percent in May.
The U.S. Senate is investigating the company for raising the price of Isuprel by about 720 percent and Nitropress by 310 percent since acquiring the drugs from Marathon Pharmaceuticals in 2015.
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