By Michael Rapoport 

Howard Schiller, Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc.'s former chief financial officer, will join a list of company witnesses testifying Wednesday at a Senate committee hearing investigating business practices, the committee said Tuesday.

Mr. Schiller will join Michael Pearson, Valeant's departing chief executive, and William Ackman, a major Valeant investor and board member, who already were slated to testify at the hearing of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging.

The committee is looking into dramatic increases in drug prices imposed by Valeant and other companies. The title of Wednesday's hearing is "Valeant Pharmaceuticals' Business Model: The Repercussions for Patients and the Health Care System."

Valeant has faced a series of concerns over its accounting and business practices in recent months, including its increases in drug prices, a practice the company has said it generally plans to curb. Valeant is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators.

Valeant has alleged Mr. Schiller engaged in unspecified "improper conduct" that contributed to a $58 million mis-booking of revenue over which the company is planning to restate its past earnings. Mr. Schiller has denied any wrongdoing and has declined a request from Valeant's board that he resign as a director. A representative of Mr. Schiller's couldn't immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

Mr. Pearson's leadership and strategy of serial acquisitions of other drug companies helped make Valeant a market darling until last year, when q uestions over drug pricing and other issues began hammering its stock, which is now down more than 85% from its high in August. Last month, Valeant said Mr. Pearson would depart as CEO; on Monday, the company named Perrigo Co. CEO Joseph Papa to replace him.

Mr. Ackman's firm, Pershing Square Capital Management LP, holds a 9% stake in Valeant; he joined the company's board last month. In a statement, Mr. Ackman said, "I have accepted an invitation to speak before the committee and look forward to doing so at the hearing."

Also slated to testify at Wednesday's hearing are a patient suffering from Wilson's disease -- a disorder treated by Syprine, a drug made by Valeant -- along with a University of Michigan Health System professor and an Indianapolis physician.

Write to Michael Rapoport at Michael.Rapoport@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 26, 2016 09:43 ET (13:43 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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