Канадалық фармацевтикалық компания Biovail корпорациясының құлауы

Canadian pharmaceutical company

Biovail Corporation was a Canadian pharmaceutical company, operating internationally in all aspects of pharmaceutical products. Its major production facility was located in Steinbach, Manitoba. It merged with Valeant Pharmaceuticals International in 2010.

As noted in the February 2009 Settlement Agreement with the Ontario Securities Commission: "Biovail admitted that [ ] it violated Ontario securities law and engaged in conduct contrary to the public interest." On September 28, 2010, Biovail merged with Valeant Pharmaceuticals (Bausch Health). The company retained the Valeant name and J. Michael Pearson as CEO, but was incorporated in Canada and temporarily kept Biovail's headquarters.

A class action suit was filed against Biovail by investors who between December 14, 2006, and July 19, 2007, bought Biovail stock, alleging that the company had failed to disclose that the multi dose study on depression drug Aplenzin would not be sufficient for the FDA to approve it.

In March 2006, CBS program 60 Minutes featured Biovail in a story about its lawsuit against hedge fund SAC Capital Partners and Camelback (now known as Gradient Analytics), among others. According to Eugene Melnyk, "there's a group of people that got together and essentially attacked the company by putting out false reports, and we're just fighting back for our shareholders." The alleged conspiracy began with Camelback, an Arizona stock analysis firm that advertises that it publishes impartial financial reports on companies to help investors evaluate stocks. In the spring of 2003, the hedge fund SAC asked them for a report on Biovail. Darryl Smith, Mark Rosenblum, Demetrios Anifantis, and Robert Ballash, former Camelback employees, alleged that Camelback had allowed their client SAC to determine the content and timing of their reports on Biovail. Gradient Analytics, successor to Camelback, issued a press release stating that the SEC's suit "confirms the validity of Gradient's critical analysis of Biovail but raises serious questions about how companies retaliate against analysts with threats, intimidation, and lawsuits." 60 Minutes has been accused of botching the Biovail story by the Columbia Journalism Reviews Audit columnist and The New York Times Joe Nocera, who felt Lesley Stahl accepted Biovail's conspiracy theories about short sellers without proper consideration. SAC and Gradient filed a suit against Biovail for malicious prosecution in February 2010.

In May 2011, the Ontario Securities Commission in Canada banned Eugene Melnyk from senior roles at public companies in Canada for five years and fined him $565,000. Earlier in the same year Melnyk had settled with the U. S. SEC, agreeing to pay a civil penalty of US$150,000; he had previously paid US$1 million to settle other claims with the SEC.