How do you convince someone to pay $1,000 for a drug when they can buy an identical alternative for $100?
Valeant Pharmaceuticals has one answer: Pay fat rebates to the people who decide whether your insurer covers the drug.
The drug in question here is Solodyn, an acne-treating antibiotic. Its sales had tumbled by 40% since it went off patent in 2011. Then Valeant struck a deal with a specialty pharmacy called Philidor and started to turn things around.
