How Valeant Cashed in Twice on Hiking Drug Prices

The mania surrounding Valeant Pharmaceuticals International hit its peak a year ago. Strange as it may seem today after all that has happened, on Aug. 5, 2015 — two weeks after a dazzling second-quarter earnings report — the drug company’s stock closed at $262.52.

J. Michael Pearson, Valeant’s chairman and chief executive at the time, took a victory lap when he announced those earnings. “We once again exceeded our guidance and delivered our fourth consecutive quarter of greater than 15 percent organic growth,” he said.