Valeant CEO agrees to be deposed in Senate drug price probe

The chief executive of Valeant Pharmaceuticals, J. Michael Pearson, has agreed to be deposed by a Senate committee investigating the causes of soaring prescription medicine prices, according to an Associated Press report.

Despite the subpoena issued by the Senate committee, Pearson didn't appear at a deposition scheduled for last week. In his absence the Senate then announced plans to start legal proceedings against Pearson. Valeant's board directed him to comply with the subpoena.

On Wednesday, the committee said Pearson will be deposed on April 18. Currently, Pearson remains under subpoena to appear before Senate at a hearing scheduled for April 27.

"We look forward to hearing Mr. Pearson's testimony," the committee's chair, Sen. Susan Collins, and ranking member Sen. Claire McCaskill, said in a statement. "This deposition and investigation are about better understanding the dramatic price increases we're seeing for decades-old prescription drugs and how those prices are affecting consumers."

The board is seeking a new CEO, though it's unclear if Pearson, Valeant's CEO since September 2010, is resigning or has been fired.

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, a Canadian drug manufacturer, has received a notice of default from bond holders because it hasn't filed a financial report due in March, as well as having lost nearly 90 percent of their value since a peak of $263.81 last August. The company is also under scrutiny for buying small drugmakers, then raising the prices as much as five times the original amount.

Valeant was reported as saying it would stick to low or no prices increases. Despite that statement the company has raised prices for most of its drugs about 10 percent already this year.