Former Valeant exec convicted

GARY Tanner, formerly a senior executive at pharmaceutical manufacturer Valeant, has been convicted of accepting a $10 million bribe in relation to the company’s takeover of a mail-order pharmacy group in 2014.

The money was paid by Phillidor Rx Services ceo Andrew Davenport, whose company was a major customer for Valeant products.

Tanner managed Valeant’s relationship with Phillidor, and was also tasked with finding new customers to spread the company’s exposure across more clients.

However instead he steered more product towards Phillidor, allegedly secretly blocking efforts of other mail order pharmacies to get a share of the Valeant business.

The alleged scheme boosted the value of Phillidor to Valeant which in 2014 agreed to pay more than US$100 million for a 10-year purchase option for the pharmacy.

Some of the proceeds were funnelled to Tanner through offshore accounts, according to evidence tendered by prosecutors.

Valeant eventually disclosed the link between the companies which led to questions about its business model and transparency, ultimately seeing its share price collapse & the 2016 exit of ceo Michael Pearson.

Tanner and Davenport now face a sentencing hearing in Sep, with penalties of up to 20 years in jail for wire fraud and money laundering.